Three men accused of dealing deadly cocaine laced with fentanyl will go directly to trial on charges of manslaughter and criminal negligence.
Japmanjot Grewal, 23, Shervin Beeharry, 20, and Azam Kabani, 21, are named in a direct indictment filed on Wednesday at Saskatoon’s Court of Queen’s Bench.
The process, which requires approval from Saskatchewan’s attorney general, means all three will skip the preliminary hearing stage on allegations that they caused the overdose deaths of four people, while causing bodily harm to three others.
No trial dates have been set.
In February, Beeharry, Grewal and Kabani were charged with four counts each of manslaughter and criminal negligence causing death. They also face charges of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
Beeharry and Grewal pleaded not guilty in April to numerous drug trafficking and weapons offences that resulted from a Saskatoon police investigation.
Drug and weapon charges against Kabani were withdrawn days earlier. He remains out on bail, while Beeharry and Grewal are still in custody.
Defence lawyers previously sought to question the author of a search warrant application, which resulted in a police raid at a Saskatoon home on Pawlychenko Lane.
Their position was that the warrant shouldn’t have been granted based on information police had.
The hearing was set to go ahead next week, but was adjourned after lawyers received more disclosure. The drug trial for Beeharry and Grewal is scheduled to go ahead on July 25.
Police said the search resulted in more than $14,000 cash, over 10 grams of a cocaine-fentanyl mix, nearly 150 grams of cocaine and over 30 grams of heroin. A gun and bullets were also seized.
WATCH (February 2018): First fentanyl manslaughter charges in Sask. laid against accused drug dealers