Plea changed on drug charges after deal with Crown accepted
By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on November 2, 2022.
https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews A man charged in one of the largest ever meth seizures in Medicine Hat has changed his plea to guilty ahead of a trial scheduled in the new year. Keith McVittie, 52, of Calgary, was arrested in October 2020 after what regional organized crime investigators said was a four-month investigation into drug trade. They seized 1.7 kilograms of methamphetamine and a small amount of cocaine, valued cumulatively at $127,000. On Tuesday, his lawyer Robin McIntyre informed provincial court on Tuesday that a resolution worked out with Crown prosecutor Alex Watson would see McVittie plead guilty to one count of trafficking a controlled substance. In exchange, prosecutors combined two allegations that he sold narcotics in Bassano and Medicine Hat in 2021 into one charge, and other minor matters were dropped. Judge Dietrich Brandt accepted the plea change agreed to by McVittie via telephone, cancelled a two-day trial in February, 2023, and set sentencing for Feb. 2. “He needs time to get his business and affairs in order before going into a penitentiary,” said McIntyre. No indications of sentence recommendations were provided by counsel on the charge, which could carry a maximum of life imprisonment. A Calgary women who was co-accused in the case, Amanda Montgomery, is represented by separate lawyers. A similar plea deal is being considered in her matters, also next in court on Feb. 2, prosecutors said. 10-9
