Man once convicted of manslaughter gets relaxed bail conditions on new offences to see lawyer

By Medicine Hat News on March 28, 2025.

@MedicineHatNews

A man described by police as a convicted killer who faces new gun and drug charges has had his strict bail conditions eased so he can visit his new lawyer.

Abdullah Mela, 28, was arrested late last month after RCMP officers and ALERT regional crime unit said they found a loaded hand gun and a kilogram of methamphetamine in vehicle headed from Calgary to Medicine Hat.

Mela was arrested Feb. 28 and had a bail hearing at Court of Justice in Medicine Hat on March 4, and despite the position from Crown prosectors was released by a Justice to spend 24-hour house curfew with a family member in Calgary, among other conditions.

On Thursday, his lawyers successfully petitioned the court to allow visits to a new address in the company of his bail surety to visit his new lawyer, Patrick C. Fagan.

At the same time, prosecutors added three new charges to the information against Mela. They include two additional charges of possessing a prohibited firearm and possessing a firearm while prohibited by court order.

Mela is subject to a lifetime ban on owning or possessing firearms after he pled guilty to manslaughter stemming from a shooting death in 2016.

Charges from the recent arrest also include possessing narcotics for the purpose of trafficking, possessing a loaded firearm in a vehicle, among other weapons charges.

Two other Hatters were arrested by the local ALERT regional crime unit in conjunction with the Medicine Hat Police Service.

That agency stated that search warrants at two local addresses turned up a total of $185,000 worth of meth, cocaine, fentanyl and the opioid hydromorphone, along with about $35,000 in cash.

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