-Will appear in court for sentencing Sept. 4-
OSOYOOS TIMES-August 13, 2008-
By Chad IngramrnOsoyoos Times
Michael Ellis pleaded guilty to drug charges in Penticton provincial court on Aug. 11 and will reappear in court for sentencing on Sept. 4.
While Ellis was originally scheduled to appear in Supreme court on Aug. 11, the case was adjourned to be held in provincial court instead.
The 34-year-old Oliver/Rock Creek resident pleaded guilty to the possession of cocaine for the purposes of trafficking.
The charge stems from an incident on June 12, 2007 when police pulled over a Dodge Dakota pickup truck occupied by two men and bearing Washington state licence plates on Hwy. 97 near Eckhardt Avenue in Penticton to check the ownership of a motorcycle in the back of the truck.
The RCMP had been searching the area for a stolen motorcycle.
According to the RCMP, one of the men inside the truck attempted to hide a can of bear spray and both men appeared nervous.
The men were arrested and police said they discovered cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, a 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun, a loaded Smith and Wesson pistol, ammunition and drug paraphernalia in the truck.
Ellis has been in custody since the arrest.
Other charges against Ellis relating to the incident, including possession of bear spray for a dangerous purpose, possession of a prohibited weapon, possession of a firearm while on probation and possession of crystal methamphetamine for the purposes of trafficking, were stayed.
Ellis' co-accused in the matter, Leonard Joseph Ferris of Oroville, Wash., pleaded guilty in late 2007 to drugs and weapons charges as well as obstructing a peace officer and illegally being in Canada.
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