An Okotoks couple charged with selling fentanyl, linked to an overdose death, did not show up to their preliminary hearing Monday.
Warrants were issued for Brian Adrian Crane and Rachel Chafe in Calgary court on April 24 when their lawyers said they were confident their clients were not coming to court and asked to be removed as their council.
Defence lawyer Dean Zuk represented Crane and said he texted his client the night before the preliminary hearing.
“I believe there is a drug issue,” Zuk said. “And he is simply not present.”
Chafe’s lawyer, Andrew Stewart, also said his client knew she was to appear for the preliminary inquiry.
Crane is charged with two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime, with two counts of trafficking in fentanyl, two counts of possession of property obtained by crime, possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking, possession of heroin and possession of cocaine. Chafe is charged with trafficking in fentanyl, possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking, possession of heroin and possession of cocaine.
Tips from the public had Calgary police following Crane’s movements. According to CPS, those tips allege Crane was selling hundreds of fentanyl pills at the height of his activity and tie him to a fatal Fentanyl drug overdose in Calgary.
It is believed Crane was selling Fentanyl and other drugs in Okotoks and Calgary as well as other outlying communities like High River, Cochrane, Chestermere, Strathmore and Claresholm.
Innisfail RCMP arrested Crane on Dec. 14, 2015 when they were called to a report of a man acting strangely.
The officers found $36,000 cash, a safe, 46 Fentanyl pills and a small amount of cocaine.
Calgary police services continued to investigate the couple and they were again arrested in Calgary on Jan. 28, 2016. Police allege they found 61 fentanyl pills, $355 cash, a small amount of heroin and cocaine and multiple cell phones.
The pair will have to go before a provincial court judge for a bail hearing when they are arrested on the warrants, meaning they will not have an expedited hearing in front of a justice of the peace.
