Pubdate: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB) Copyright: 2009 The Calgary Sun Contact: http://www.calgarysun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/67 Author: Kevin Martin, Staff Writer POTHEAD GETS STERN LECTURE BUT AVOIDS JAIL Despite being nabbed with a wad of drug cash stuffed in his underwear and a backpack full of dope, a Calgary man was spared jail yesterday. Instead, provincial court Judge Cheryl Daniel handed Jordan Adam Yaremus a 12-month conditional sentence, gave him a stern lecture and made him apologize to his crying mother. "It's broken your mom's heart," Daniel said. "Look at your mom ... and tell her what you need to tell her," she told Yaremus, as his mother sat wiping away tears in the courtroom gallery. "Nothing like this will ever happen again," Yaremus said, as he turned to her. "The two big words are?" Daniel prodded. "I'm very sorry," the convicted drug dealer said. Daniel convicted Yaremus, 22, in May, of three charges including possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and possessing the proceeds of crime. He was arrested by cops on Aug. 20, 2006, who found about $4,400 worth of the drug in his backpack, a buck knife hidden under the driver's seat of his car and $1,690 in cash stuffed into his underwear. At the request of Crown prosecutor Scott Couper, Daniel ordered the forfeiture of all the items seized, including the 75 bills of various denominations, mostly $20s. Before deciding whether to accept Couper's request for jail, or the conditional sentence sought by defence lawyer Eleanor Funk, Daniel asked Yaremus to describe the effect drug use has had on his life. "We just partied too much, me and my friends," he said. "I just got stuck in the wrong crowd." Daniel said she was concerned a pre-sentence report said Yaremus was continuing to consume pot, although not as frequently as he had been before being charged. "The fact that you are still smoking marijuana means that you're still stuck with the wrong crowd," she said. But Yaremus assured Daniel his drug using days are behind him. His conditional sentence includes an order he abstain from drugs and booze. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr