A drug trafficker caught by RCMP undercover agents selling crack in Whitehorse was sentenced to 12 months in jail this morning.

Gurmukh Panesar, 40, had pleaded guilty in territorial court to two counts of trafficking the drug.

Two undercover agents made three different purchases from Panesar on May 30 and 31, 2014.

On two occasions, they called a phone number and identified him as being on the other end of the line, court heard.

The undercover agents bought between 0.20g and 0.30g of crack cocaine for $50 each time.

For the first two transactions, a caucasian man came in a pickup truck to deliver the drug.

The third time, the undercover agents proposed to exchange an iPod for the drug.

Panesar came along with the man in the truck to check the iPod before refusing it.

Panesar, who was self-represented for the sentencing, told Judge John Faulkner he admitted to the facts read out by Crown prosecutor Sue Bogle.

Bogle noted Panesar’s co-accused had received an eight-month sentence, but had no prior criminal record.

Panesar, on the other hand, has a criminal record, with six prior convictions, for possession.

The first offence dates back to 1996, and the last prior to this conviction was in 2013.

Panesar served 30 days.

Bogle insisted that because crack cocaine is a very addictive drug, it was an aggravating factor the judge had to take into account during sentencing.

“The North is already dealing with lots of addiction,” she pointed out.

The trafficking was not a “spur of the moment decision,” Bogle noted.

Drug dealers weigh the costs and benefits of trafficking, she added.

Panesar did enter a guilty plea early on, saving the Crown the cost to prove the case, she noted as a mitigating factor.

Panesar is a North Delta, B.C. resident.

He is married and has two children, aged 17 and 13.

In his oral decision, Faulkner noted crack cocaine was a “pernicious drug.”

Of the 12 months Panesar was sentenced to, he will only have to serve nine.

Faulkner gave him a credit of 1.5 days for each day he spent on remand before he was set free on bail.

The judge also banned Panesar from owning a weapon for 10 years after his release from jail, and imposed a life ban for restricted weapons.