Photo by Curtis Galbraith.

By EverythingGP staff

Court

Court update: Guilty plea in Peace River death, jail time in Grande Prairie weapons, fake IDs seizure

Apr 26, 2021 | 5:30 AM

Alberta Justice says a man charged with murder after a death in Peace River has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter.

Daniel Sawan entered the plea April 12 in Peace River court.

He was arrested after a 42-year-old man was found dead on the afternoon of July 16, 2020 outside of an apartment building in Peace River. RCMP said at the time the man died at the scene and his death was considered suspicious. No other details were released.

Sawan will be sentenced on July 23.

Jail time after weapons, fake IDs seized

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Alberta Justice says a Grande Prairie man has been given a five-and-a-half-year jail sentence after pleading guilty to charges related to an October arrest where firearms, ammunition, and fake IDs were seized.

In Grande Prairie court on April 13, David Dixon pleaded guilty to charges of unauthorized possession of a firearm; making, possessing forged identity documents; and failure to comply. He was given six months credit for time already spent in custody. A number of other charges were withdrawn.

RCMP said at the time that they were called to a dispute October 22, 2020, at a Grande Prairie home. When they got there, Mounties arrested a suspect in an incident where someone went into a home and pointed a firearm. Police later found identifications, some of which were stolen and some of which were phony, along with firearms and ammunition.

Police had laid 50 charges against Dixon, including pointing a firearm, 28 counts of failure to comply, nine other weapons counts, and eight others related to stolen or fake IDs.

November trial for accused in Fox Creek amber alter

The man charged after three kids were abducted from a Fox Creek home in June of 2019 will go to trial in November.

Alberta Justice says D’artangan Dirk Pool will stand trial November 22 to 30 in Grande Prairie Court of Queen’s Bench.

There had been trial dates scheduled for Pool previously, but those did not go ahead

Pool and Charmaine Annette Darnel were arrested after three kids were taken from a Fox Creek home around 1:30 a.m. June 1, 2019.

The children and Darnel, their mother, were later found in a vehicle near Sylvan Lake. The kids were not hurt.

She was later given a suspended sentence and two years probation after pleading guilty to a charge of housebreaking with intent to commit an indictable offence.

One year jail sentence after pursuit, police vehicles rammed

Alberta Justice says the accused in an incident last June involving dangerous driving, a police chase, and an RCMP vehicle being rammed twice, has been given jail time.

Trevor Ryan Unrau was given one year in jail on a charge of flight from a peace officer March 30 in Peace River court. He was given 41 days credit for time already spent in custody.

Unrau was also found guilty of two charges of assaulting a peace officer and one of dangerous operation of a vehicle. He was given 90 days in jail minus 89 days credit. He was found not guilty on charges of operating a vehicle while prohibited and possession of stolen property over $5000. He was also given a $3000 fine on a count of driving a vehicle with no insurance.

RCMP said at the time they were called out June 29 to a vehicle driving erratically in the Webberville area. Mounties were forced to swerve out of the way when the truck headed towards them. That followed an attempted traffic stop where the truck sped away and a pursuit where a spike belt was used. The vehicle hit the ditch but kept going, ramming an RCMP vehicle twice.

It kept going before colliding with a second police vehicle. Mounties say they had to do a high-risk takedown.

Unrau had earlier pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property over $5000, possession of a controlled substance, and failure to comply in a separate case and was given 120 days time served.

Stolen mail case results in most charges being withdrawn

Alberta Justice says a court case where three people were charged after police found what was believed to be stolen mail has concluded in Grande Prairie court.

All 62 charges against Nathan Cory Jones were withdrawn April 6. Daryl James Pearson had pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of stolen property under $5000 March 18 in Grande Prairie court and was given a $250 fine while another 58 charges were withdrawn. Back in December of 2019, Christopher Sheldon Hanson pleaded guilty to driving a vehicle while unauthorized and was given a $1500 fine. Four other charges, none of which involved stolen mail, were withdrawn.

RCMP said at the time they searched a home in the Highland Park neighbourhood after hearing concerns from area residents. Mounties said the December search turned up 46 pieces of mail belonging to 46 different people plus items like passports, credit cards and an Alberta driver’s license that had been reported stolen. Drugs and ammunition were also located and seized.