Woman sentenced to 4 years for drug stash houses

A Ndilo mom has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail for her part in a criminal organization that sold cocaine, fentanyl, marijuana and other drugs in Yellowknife.

Katrina Stiopu was sentenced on Monday, after admitting she provided stash houses in Ndilo and along the Dettah Road for drug dealer Todd Dube to store large amounts of drugs until needed for sale on the streets.

Stiopu also admitted helping to arrange delivery of a large shipment of cocaine, marijuana and other drugs from B.C. to Yellowknife. At the time, she and Dube were unaware that police were recording her phone conversations.

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Some of those recorded conversations, which took place in February and March 2016, were played at the 27-year-old's sentencing hearing. In them, Dube called numerous times to arrange to pick up or drop off drugs at the stash houses. They also included a conversation Stiopu had with Dube immediately after police intercepted a drug shipment from B.C. at a traffic stop near Fort Providence.

Stiopu will likely get to serve her time in the Northwest Territories, though sentences of more than two years are typically served in penitentiaries in the South. With credit for time served, Stiopu has just under two years left on her sentence.

The sentencing is the latest in a long string of convictions that resulted from the RCMP's 2016 investigation dubbed "Green Manilishi." The investigation was named after a popular 1970s song by Fleetwood Mac about the corruption caused by money.

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The investigation targeted two drug rings in Yellowknife, one run by Dube and one run by another man, Norman Hache. Dube was sentenced to nine years in prison. Two other people who helped him run the organization Eddy Radeka and Dube's sister, Brittany were each sentenced to five years. Hache was sentenced to five years.

During her sentencing hearing last month, Stiopu claimed to be a victim. She told the judge, "I feel I was preyed upon and exploited by drug criminals ... I never thought I could possibly get into this much trouble."

Her lawyer asked for a sentence of time served.

The prosecutor, who called for a sentence of five years, saidStiopu seemed far from a naive victim in her phone conversations with Dube. Calling her "a major cog" in the drug operation,Duane Praught pointed out Stiopu understood the code words for various drugs and was all business.

"She was not an addict being used by Mr. Dube," said Praught.