A Sackville man and woman appeared in Moncton provincial court on Monday on joint charges of possessing cocaine and methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking. Colt Leblanc and Cheryl Trenholme are also charged with laundering over $35,000 believed to be obtained in the trafficking of illegal drugs.
The charges came after a cross border investigation involving the Nova Scotia RCMP, which saw eight people in Sackville, Amherst and Moncton arrested on various drug charges in February.
The matter was adjourned until August 2, to allow time for Trenholme and Leblanc to apply for legal aid representation. But it will likely be adjourned again in August to await disclosure, according to lawyer Michel DesNeiges, who was in court representing Leblanc on unrelated charges of speeding and driving with a suspended license.
Leblanc is already facing another set of joint drug charges with Carrie Ann Sears, stemming from search and seizures conducted by the Sackville RCMP on April 28, 2021. He and Sears pled not guilty to those charges and are due back in court on January 7, 2023 for a trial.
In September of 2021, Leblanc pled guilty to two counts of assault and obstruction of a police officer for events that took place in January 2021 near his former home on Upper Aboujagane Road. Leblanc’s home was later closed under the Safer Communities And Neighbourhoods act, a public complaints-driven civil proceeding that allows the government to evict people from their homes.
More charges stemming from February arrests
Another Sackville man arrested during February’s cross-border illegal drug operation was in court again last week. Taylor Allen Cole pled guilty to numerous charges, including drug trafficking in January and possessing illegal weapons in February.
He also is facing charges of assault and arson from May 13, 2021 in Upper Sackville. 26-year-old Cole had been charged with setting fire to a house owned by Colt Leblanc, and assaulting Henry Pottie with a shovel. Within weeks of that assault, Pottie was charged with first degree murder in the death of Jamie Leard, along with Sean Patrick Patterson.
The judge ordered Cole to remain in custody until his sentencing on July 13.
