ESTEVAN — A Manitoba woman has been sentenced in connection with a 2025 drug trafficking arrest in Estevan.
Trisha Deanne Coulter, a 37-year-old from Virden, Man., received a conditional sentence order (CSO) of two years less a day after she pleaded guilty June 29 in Estevan Provincial Court to one count of trafficking cocaine. She also received a concurrent nine-month CSO after pleading guilty to possession of property obtained by crime under $5,000. Two charges were stayed: one for possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and another for possession of drugs.
Coulter and her lawyer Brett Gladstone were not present for the sentencing because they reside in Manitoba.
Federal Crown prosecutor Kathryn Gilliss said on July 31, 2025, the Estevan Police Service (EPS) received an anonymous call regarding a person staying in room 211 at Estevan’s Tower Inn pointing a firearm. Further investigation showed Coulter and co-accused Geoffrey Wade Hirst leaving the room in question.
“There were indications made to police in the investigation that there were drugs being sold out of that hotel room," said Gilliss.
Neighbouring rooms had to be evacuated. The EPS later said the call proved to be false.
The following day, Gilliss said Coulter and Hirst were located during a traffic stop and were arrested on drug charges. The EPS located 18 dime bags of cocaine and $1,890 in their vehicle, Gilliss said, along with a key for the Best Western Hotel in Estevan, which led to a search warrant on the hotel room, where Gilliss said officers located $2,930, 35 dime bags of cocaine, one gram of methamphetamine and a laptop stolen in connection with a file from Virden.
“Both parties were interviewed in which Ms. Coulter certainly gives an indication of her ultimate knowledge and understanding of what was going on in terms of Mr. Hirst’s involvement," said Gilliss.
She added Hirst gives a statement in which he takes full responsibility for the trafficking, but ultimately through the investigation, Coulter's involvement was established.
Coulter spent 11 days in custody after she was arrested last August.
Coulter has a criminal record for possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, stemming from an arrest after she was apprehended in Estevan last year. The CSOs she received June 29 can be served concurrent to the one she is serving in Manitoba, Gilliss said, although the Saskatchewan CSO will extend Coulter's sentence by a few months.
“There does not appear to be any conditions that we provide that would be contrary or provide conflict or frustration of that order she’s currently on in Manitoba.”
Coulter will be subject to a 24-hour curfew throughout the CSOs, Gilliss said. The sentence has standard conditions, as well as a mandatory firearms prohibition.
Gladstone noted Coulter has become “quite well known” in Virden because of her Manitoba guilty plea, and her status in the community has been devastated by her conviction.
“Her efforts in the community towards rehabilitation have been meaningfully impacted. She has great difficulty at times finding employment,” Gladstone said.
She has an ankle monitor for the rest of the Manitoba CSO. Gladstone noted she has been “perfectly compliant” with the Manitoba conditions, including the curfew.
“It is very difficult for her to overcome this, and I can tell you it has been a daily constant reminder for her. The specific deterrent elements of sentencing have had a very meaningful impact," he said.
She is also taking addiction counselling and other measures mandated by the courts, he said.
Coulter said she has changed and is working really hard to do the right thing.
Both the prosecution and the defence said it was an unusual circumstance to have concurrent CSOs in different provinces, and Judge Mitch Miller agreed in accepting the joint submission. He noted the Manitoba CSO’s terms are more stringent than those in Saskatchewan.
He believes she is taking the CSO seriously and doing well under the terms.
A hearing was slated to occur July 2 in Estevan on the admissibility of some of the evidence in Coulter's case. A trial was set for Aug. 25. Both have been vacated.
Hirst was sentenced June 15 to 504 days in custody, although when factoring in remand for time spent in custody, he only had 27 days left to serve as of the June 15 sentencing.
“He received a custodial sentence in relation to this, and his culpability, we might suggest, is higher than Ms. Coulter’s,” said Gilliss.
