A complex wiretap investigation led to the arrest of now 29-year-old Dustin Smagata, who pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to traffic cocaine.
Published Jul 26, 2023 • 3 minute read
A complex wiretap investigation led to the arrest of now 29-year-old Dustin Smagata, who pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to traffic cocaine. Photo by Brandon Harder /jpg
Dustin Edward Smagata became a victim of crime when he was shot outside Regina’s Broad Street hookah lounge in the summer of 2019.
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But before that, the now 29-year-old man was a perpetrator, according to facts read into court Tuesday, as Smagata was sentenced to a year in jail — the result of a half-kilogram of cocaine he had a hand in bringing into the city in 2018.
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He pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to traffic cocaine. With time served on remand, he has just 165 days left to serve.
The sentence was a light one, considering the facts. But it was the result of a true joint submission with “substantial give and take,” according to federal Crown prosecutor Brian Smith, who detailed for Judge Kevin Lang how “a fairly complex” wiretap investigation led to Smagata’s arrest and eventual conviction.
It was September of 2018 when police intercepted texts between Smagata and another man, who Smith referred to as “Crawford,” but whose real identity is unknown.
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The messages indicated Smagata owed Crawford a debt and was trying to get him some cash.
“There was some discussion about trying to buy methamphetamine, as well as cocaine,” Smith told the court.
Smagata told Crawford he’d be in Vancouver in “a few days,” and through surveillance police tracked the now-convicted man to Calgary.
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The prosecutor said Smagata then alerted Crawford as to his whereabouts and discussed paying off at least $15,000 toward his debt. In return, Crawford was to ship him drugs.
Smith said that after the men met in Vancouver, or somewhere near there, Smagata asked Crawford for a tracking number for a package. Police intercepted this tracking number and used it to facilitate the arrest of yet another man, who picked up the package of drugs in Regina.
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After Smagata couldn’t get ahold of the man meant to pick up the drugs, he told Crawford that the man may have been arrested. Crawford responded that it was Smagata’s issue to deal with.
Indeed, he began dealing with it, legally at least, when police picked him up upon his return to the city.
Defence lawyer Ian McKay told Lang his client was born in Melfort, and later moved to Regina, where he attended both Balfour Collegiate and F.W. Johnson Collegiate.
The latter is where Smagata met Kamalladin Nur, the man who is alleged to have shot him July 21, 2019 — an event he testified he has little recollection of. Nur’s trial is still ongoing.
Tuesday, McKay said Smagata has since really stepped up in terms of parenting his now seven-year-old son, and recognized that his actions during a “dark time” in his life could’ve turned out much worse.
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“I don’t doubt anything you’re saying,” Lang said, commenting on how Smagata had a fairly consistent criminal record, which all of a sudden ended abruptly.
The judge seemed impressed by this, noting he’s heard offenders in the past say they want to spend more time with family, but this may be a situation where a sense of responsibility has helped someone turn their life around.
For the benefit of Lang, who had to consider the relatively light sentence before imposing it, McKay outlined how if the lawyers hadn’t come together with a joint proposal, triable issues with the wiretap investigation might’ve led to police evidence being scrutinized in court for weeks before a proper trial could even proceed.
Lang guaranteed Smagata that his son is watching.
“I know,” was the response from the man who said little else at his sentencing.
The judge urged him to continue to be a good example to his child.
“Show him what an honest day’s work from an honest man is, and you will raise a very fine individual,” Lang concluded.
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