JUDGE SENDS STERN MESSAGE ABOUT DEALING

Drug dealers should pay for destroying lives in a city where cocaine
has become plentiful, said a Red Deer judge on Monday.

Thomas Schollie sentenced Phouthauong Khamkhay to two years and two
months in jail for trafficking small amounts of cocaine in the summer of 2004.

His wife broke out in sobs and reached for Khamkhay's hand as he was
led away by a courthouse guard.

"This is the problem in Red Deer now -- "too much cocaine," said
Schollie in provincial court.

"Does he want his daughters using cocaine or crystal meth? How many
people is he ruining?"

The sentence surprised the courtroom because his lawyer John
MacNaughton had argued for a conditional sentence to be served in
the community.

Khamkhay, 38, had no criminal record and was peddling small amounts
of cocaine as part of a dial-a-dope operation, in which he brought
the drug to customers.

The family man with three daughters hadn't missed a day of work due
to illness in 15 years at a Red Deer meat plant, said MacNaughton.

But Schollie said Khamkhay should have known better. He isn't
addicted to drugs and was selling cocaine to make extra money.

"Why would a perfect gentleman with a lovely wife and wonderful
family have to traffic cocaine? There is no acceptable reason," said Schollie.

He said drug use is linked to crime and family breakdown in Red Deer.

Last Friday, two child apprehension orders came before Schollie
because the parents were on cocaine, he said.

"I had a guy who committed armed robbery say, "I shouldn't have done
it, but I had to pay my dealer."

"This is a small community that has an awful lot of cocaine in it."

Khamkhay spent two months in custody after he was arrested in August 2004.

He previously pleaded not guilty and had a trial slated for April
18, but he changed his plea.