Medicine Hat man serving 6.5-year drug sentence in Drumheller dies in custody
By JEREMY APPEL on August 7, 2019.
jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel A Medicine Hat man serving consecutive sentences in Drumheller Institution for selling fentanyl and methamphetamine has died in custody, according to Correctional Services Canada. Jason Claude Tremblay, 42, died Sunday some time between 6 and 8 p.m. He had been serving a 6.5-year sentence since March 27. CSC didn’t reveal the cause of death but said in a news release that his next of kin has been notified. The news release says Tremblay was serving a sentence of four years nine months, which is the length of his sentence after subtracting credit for pre-trial custody. Maureen Quintal, an assistant warden at Drumheller, told the News the RCMP are investigating while the coroner’s office does an autopsy to determine the cause of death. “Once they’re done their investigation, we’ll do ours,” said Quintal. A lockdown was put in place Monday while guards searched the institution. As a result, visits are suspended until further notice. Quintal says the search will likely take three or four days and “is normal protocol in these situations.” “It’s a good time to do a search for weapons, drugs, cellphones – any type of contraband,” she said. “Plus, when they’re doing their investigation, the RCMP need to be able to go in and interview staff and inmates, and when we’re locked down that’s the best time to do that, then the movement’s controlled.” Tremblay was arrested in 2014 after police seized from him 800 oxycodone pills containing fentanyl. He was initially acquitted on charges of possession for the purposes of trafficking and convicted of simple possession, but the Crown successfully appealed the verdict in June 2017. Tremblay was ultimately sentenced to 5.5 years for that charge of possession for the purposes of trafficking, but had 21 months credit for time served. While out on bail for that offence, he was arrested in September 2017 as part of “Operation Suppression” on charges of trafficking, possessing the proceeds of crime and failure to abide by a court order, which were dropped in exchange for a guilty plea to possession for the purposes of trafficking. For that, he was sentenced to one year consecutive to the fentanyl-related sentence. 16-15
