Waswanipi’s Chief, John Kitchen, pled guilty to a charge of impaired driving at a hearing of the itinerant court on Sept. 20.

He was sentenced to a mandatory fine of $300 plus a $30 surcharge and court expenses, according to Marie-Chantale Brassard, the prosecutor in the case.

Kitchen also cannot drive a vehicle in Canada for a period of three months. In addition, Brassard said offenders in impaired driving cases almost always have their license suspended for one year by the Automobile License Bureau.

The charge stems from an incident last year when Kitchen drove a vehicle off the road near the community’s Band Council office.