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Jean Marie River woman with troubled past behind bars for trafficking
'Her biological mother ... introduced her to illicit drugs ... she has suffered addictions issues since that time,' says her lawyer
Another member of a cross-border drug ring peddling cocaine in Fort Simpson has been sent to jail.
Alison Sanguez, of Jean Marie River, had just been charged with those serious drug crimes in December 2024, when she was out on bail and a woman was killed in January 2024 in Fort Simpson.
Trish Isiah, 29, died at a home in Fort Simpson on the morning of January 19th, 2024, with RCMP charging Sanguez, then 27, with manslaughter three weeks later.
Court documents show Isiah had been in a fight with another woman on January 18th, 2024. She was apparently punched and kicked in the head, did not go to the local health centre. Hours later, she was later found deceased in bed.
Sanguez was convicted after trial in January of the lesser charge of assault and sentenced to 45 days.
At a recent sentencing hearing on the drug charges, NWT Supreme Court Chief Justice Shannon Smallwood accepted a joint recommendation Sanguez be sent away for a total of 22 months, followed by two years of supervised probation and a number of conditions.
This after she pleaded guilty to possessing property obtained by crime over $5,000 and possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
She was part of the crew involving an inmate at North Slave Correctional Complex, which had a drug pipeline between Edmonton and Fort Simpson in late 2023. In fact, police made a major arrest in this case in front of the Fantasyland Hotel in the West Edmonton Mall.
In detailing the crew’s activities as heard in wiretaps and from surveillance, Crown Prosecutor Alex Bernard noted the potential profits of drug sales in the North;
- The average price for crack cocaine in the Northwest Territories is $100 per 0.5-gram piece of crack cocaine.
- Two ounces of powder soft cocaine (56 grams) purchased in Edmonton cost $2,000, and it’s sold at 0.5 gram pieces, would result in 112 sales totalling $11,200.
- If sold in one-gram pieces for $100, this would result in $5,600, and $8,000 at 0.7-gram pieces.
Based on the evidence gathered in this investigation, the total amount of cocaine supplied to the group in Fort Simpson was between four and six ounces.
The court heard that Sanguez was one of the individuals involved in the trafficking of cocaine in Fort Simpson, as well as involved in the preparation and packaging for sale in the community.
She participated in discussions with the other individuals who were involved regarding the operation of the organization as well as the sale of cocaine in the community.
In one instance, the Sanguez and another individual were responsible for depositing around $5,000 from the proceeds of the sale of crack cocaine into a bank account.
On another occasion, Miss Sangues was involved in the conversion of powder cocaine to crack cocaine, and the packaging of that crack cocaine for sale.
Prosecutor Bernard said sentences for cocaine trafficking in the NWT, “must acknowledge the harms to the community at multiple levels.”
He continued, paraphrasing Justice Louise Charbonneau (see below): “Whether we pay the price in public safety, the administration of justice, the health-care system, or the child-welfare system, and accordingly, the victims of all of those areas.”
Justice Smallwood said trafficking in cocaine causes damage to our communities, and it particularly affects smaller communities in the NWT.
“Increasingly, smaller communities like Fort Simpson have been impacted by cocaine and crack cocaine,” she said. “These are often communities who have struggled with the legacy of residential schools, intergenerational trauma, with alcohol abuse, and now the impact of practical pain and other drugs.
“I don’t know how communities and Indigenous people can address their issues and have their youth grow up in a safe and healthy community when every generation is impacted by a new challenge, in this case increasingly by the impact of cocaine.”
Smallwood reluctantly accepted the joint recommendation of 22 months and two years of supervised probation
“In this case, the joint submission that has been presented to the court is a lenient one,” she said, noting she had to take into account the life circumstances of the Indigenous offender. “It is at the low end of the range of appropriate sentences for this type of offence. However, the joint submission does not … bring the administration of justice into disrepute, or be contrary to public interest.”
With 588 days of enhanced pre-trial credit, Sanguez has 82 days remaining in her sentence, before two years of supervised probation starts.
Intergenerational trauma played role in crafting a fit sentence for Alison Sanguez:
Defence lawyer Gary Smith said his client, now 30, has a nine-year-old son, residing with her adopted parents, in Jean Marie River.
Her biological parents lost Sanquez to social services and she was adopted very early in life.
“Her biological parents have a very troubled past. She indicates to me that she hasn’t had much to do with her biological father … (he’s) been in and out of jail his entire life,” said Smith.
She didn’t meet her biological mother until she was 12 or 13 years of age.
“Sadly, she indicates to me that it was her biological mother, at that time, introduced her to illicit drugs, and that she has suffered addictions issues since that time,” said the lawyer.
“Growing up, although she had a very caring adoptive family, she had contact with her biological extended family and her mother, and she witnessed alcohol abuse, drug abuse, among other various things.
While in custody, she was granted bail for a three-week stint in the summer of 2025 at a GNWT-funded Toronto drug treatment centre.
“She understands that she needs to continue her counselling.”
Justice Louise Charbonneau, speaking on illegal drugs during a sentencing in February for another member of the Fort Simpson crew:
NWT Chief Justice Louise Charbonneau (who has since retired) at the swearing in of newly elected Yellowknife mayor and council in 2018. (CKLB files)
“The trafficking of these drugs in our communities leads to terrible outcomes. We do not just hear about this in the criminal courts. We hear about it in family court. We hear about it in child welfare court. Sometimes we even hear about it in civil chambers, in foreclosure proceedings, because people end up losing their homes as a result of money spent feeding their addiction. Others lose their businesses. There are several examples of this, in Yellowknife and in other communities I am sure, of long-established businesses going under because one of their owners developed an addiction to crack cocaine.
“We hear stories of empty fridges, children being neglected. We hear stories of drug traffickers taking over homes because the people who are in those homes are so addicted and so desperate for drugs that in exchange for drugs they allow the traffickers to set up shop in their homes, sometimes with young children in the homes. The devastation that stems from this has been referred to often in by this Court over the last few decades, and continues to be.
“Courts do not have the ability to solve the personal problems and social problems that are at the root of addictions. These problems are complex. But we do know that there are people, many of them who never set foot in this jurisdiction, who are making an enormous amount of money at the expense of our most vulnerable citizens. And we know those people depend on recruiting individuals in the Northwest Territories to carry out their business. This is why denunciation and deterrence are the paramount sentencing principles in these cases, even for those who are not making the real profits from it.”
