A tip from the public about suspicious activity at the Travelodge prompted Moose Jaw police to monitor the hotel, where they noticed an unusual amount of action happening in one room.
During their surveillance on Oct. 19, 2020, officers saw several people coming and going from the suite, including individuals they knew to be involved in the drug trade. Police acquired a search warrant and carried it out on the room, where they found Matthew Barry Hooey engaged in trafficking cocaine.
Officers recovered 12 baggies with small amounts of the drug, $95 in cash, a cellphone, contraband cigarettes, a morphine capsule, and a weigh scale.
Hooey, 36, from Moose Jaw, appeared in provincial court on May 5 and pleaded guilty to simple possession of cocaine. He also pleaded guilty to other charges he acquired during the past two years, including driving disqualified, willfully damaging property, mischief under $5,000, uttering threats to cause damage to Walker’s Towing, mischief to a truck, failing to come to court, assault, and breaching a release order.
The Crown stayed several other charges.
Hooey will spend the next 18 months on probation based on his guilty pleas. He will have to follow several orders, such as keeping the peace and being of good behaviour, taking addiction treatment, having no contact with his victims, taking anger management, and not visiting any place that sells alcohol.
Other charges
The courts gave Hooey a three-year driving ban in 2017, but in 2019, he was spotted several times driving while disqualified, provincial Crown prosecutor Rob Parker said while discussing the facts. In December, he threatened an employee at Walker’s Towing after attempting to retrieve his vehicle from impound.
In February 2020, Hooey got into an argument with his landlord — who was kicking him out — and caused $3,500 in damages to the landlord’s truck.
In September, the Moose Jaw man went into a downtown business and threw a shoe at a salesperson and caused that person to fear for her safety.
A problematic drug addiction
“Many of these (charges) are due to impulse and addictions issues … ,” explained defence lawyer Estes Fonkalsrud. “He doesn’t just randomly argue with someone.”
For example, Hooey thought the salesperson was rude to him, so he threw the shoe he was holding. Meanwhile, he believed his landlord had thrown out his possessions without giving him a chance to collect them. With the towing company, he needed to retrieve tools in his truck for a job, but the company wouldn’t allow him to grab them without paying a fee.
Hooey has attempted to deal with his addictions himself but continued to relapse. However, he is excited to have a probation worker who can help him with his addiction treatment.
Judge Daryl Rayner accepted the joint submission and agreed to waive the victim surcharge since Hooey is unemployed.
The Provincial Court section holds articles that have been written without prejudice with the information that has been presented in a public court of appeal available to the media and public.
