Delivering two ounces of cocaine to an undercover police officer has landed Carl Allan Trobak with a three-year prison sentence. 

The 29-year-old was a member of the Fallen Saints Motorcycle Club in Saskatoon when he trafficked the drugs on Dec. 10, 2014, according to the agreed facts outlined in court. Two days before, Trobak met with two other Fallen Saints members: Daryl Michael Nagy and Noel Harder, who was working for police in the Project Forseti investigation targeting biker clubs in Saskatoon. 

The men discussed having Nagy supply the cocaine at $2,000 an ounce while charging the buyer $2,400 for the same amount. Trobak was to deliver the drugs and take a $400 cut of the profits. 

He met the undercover officer in Vanscoy and was paid $4,800 for the two ounces of cocaine. When Trobak was later seen taking off his jacket as he got out of a vehicle, he was wearing a Fallen Saints vest, federal Crown prosecutor Janelle Khan said.

Trobak was also charged with participating in a criminal organization, committing an offence for the benefit of a criminal organization, and assaulting a man “for the purpose of enhancing” the Fallen Saints Motorcycle Club. Those charges were stayed. 

Justice Mona Dovell accepted a joint submission from the Crown and defence for a three-year sentence. She also imposed a $400 forfeiture — the value of Trobak’s cut from the cocaine deal. 

Defence lawyer Val Harvey said Trobak’s family members describe him as “a positive person who got caught up in something very wrong.”

Trobak pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking and possessing proceeds of crime in November 2016. Court heard sentencing was delayed to accommodate his cognitive behavioural therapy sessions for obsessive compulsive and anxiety disorders.

When given the chance to speak, Trobak said he has proven to his family that he can do better and knows he must now prove it to the court. 

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Watch: In a regular feature, StarPhoenix court reporter Bre McAdam talks about some of the cases that went through Saskatoon courts this week.

Slightly more than three years ago, David Neil Woods received an automatic life sentence after a jury convicted him of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Dorothy.

Woods was scheduled to argue for a new trial at a Court of Appeal hearing in Regina Thursday; however, this week the high court adjourned the hearing until September at the request of the defence, despite the Crown being ready to proceed.

It appears Woods, who had been self-represented, retained a lawyer a week before the hearing, court staff confirmed. 

Woods, 54, filed an appeal notice a week after the conclusion of his high-profile trial in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench in the spring of 2014. A jury found Woods killed his wife on or around Nov. 12, 2011. Medical evidence presented at the trial showed she was strangled to death. 

Dorothy Woods.

Dorothy’s mysterious disappearance made headlines as family members searched for nearly two months. On Jan. 4, 2012, police found her body in a culvert near Blackstrap Lake after placing a GPS tracking device on Woods’s truck.

Woods is appealing his conviction, arguing the trial judge gave an unbalanced charge to the jury and failed to give limiting instruction on the Crown’s theory by ruling it “had an air of reality.”

The Crown’s theory that Woods killed Dorothy in their backyard and initially hid her body in a storage area under their swimming pool did have an air of reality, according to arguments filed in the Crown’s factum. It argued there was “overwhelming evidence” that Dorothy did not leave her home on Nov. 12, 2011, but no evidence she was attacked in either the house or the garage. Her daughter testified about hearing a door open after she went to bed, and the ropes used to bind her wrists matched the ropes used to tie down the pool tarp. 

Although the Crown outlined its theory to the jury during closing arguments, “The trial judge did not put this theory to the jury when he charged the jury,” the Crown’s factum noted. 

The jury heard Woods murdered his wife because she was having affairs and had asked to end their marriage. The trial heard he sent threatening text messages from her phone to two of her lovers on Nov. 15, 2011 — four days after Dorothy disappeared. 

Part of Woods’s appeal contends that the trial judge should not have admitted those text messages as evidence. In its factum, the Crown argued it was the right decision because there were multiple reasons to infer they were sent by Woods. 

In his appeal notice, Woods also stated that the verdict was unreasonable and not supported by the evidence. 

“The Crown’s case was so overwhelming that the appellant could offer no explanation for the most incriminating items of the Crown’s case against him and could offer only irrational and unsupportable explanations for the rest of it,” the Crown’s factum stated. 

No defence factum had been filed prior to the adjournment.  

-Bre McAdam, Saskatoon StarPhoenix

A hearing is underway in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench to determine if the man convicted of killing 42-year-old Rocky Genereaux should be designated a dangerous offender.

Michael James Robertson fatally stabbed Genereaux in the stomach during an altercation in Genereaux’s bedroom in March 2015. Robertson claimed it was self-defence because Genereaux was threatening to stab him with an HIV-infected needle. Although he stood trial for second-degree murder, a jury found him guilty of the lesser offence of manslaughter in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench last June. The Crown subsequently launched a dangerous offender application, which could result in an indefinite prison term.

In 2010, Robertson received a nine-year prison sentence for two robberies and assault with a weapon for blinding a beer store clerk in one eye with a pellet gun. He was designated a long-term offender, which included a community supervision order for seven years after his release. 

Robertson was only four months into his statutory release when he went unlawfully at large in February 2015. He stabbed Genereaux the next month. 

This is the second time the Crown has made a dangerous offender application for Robertson.

Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Shabehram Lohrasbe testified Wednesday that Robertson is considered a high risk to reoffend and that his violence has been escalating as he gets older. He’s been offending since 2002 and has an “extensive criminal history,” a parole officer testified on Tuesday. 

When asked why Robertson, knowing he was on a long-term supervision order, would commit another serious crime so soon, Lohrasbe cited familiarity, impulsivity and an inability to foresee consequences under pressure. If Robertson continues to go back to that mindset, “then it’s hopeless,” Lohrasbe concluded. 

He diagnosed Robertson with anti-social personality disorder — lacking remorse for his victims and a deep motivation to change — as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), for which he stopped taking medication when he joined a gang. 

Robertson has been taking medication now that he wants to leave the gang lifestyle, Lohrasbe said. He stressed that rehabilitation is not possible unless Robertson stays away from gangs, negative peers and drugs — factors that were present in both of Robertson’s most serious convictions.

Court heard Robertson did not complete his substance abuse programming while in prison. Lohrasbe said there is no clear reason why. 

During cross-examination, Lohrasbe said he took an “optimistic” view of Robertson’s future in his report, concluding that someone with a high risk to reoffend can be managed in the community if they cooperate with their support team. He believes Robertson has the capacity to remain “emotionally stable” in stressful situations and has shown a desire to distance himself from gangs, he said.

The week-long hearing is expected to conclude on Friday. 

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Related

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Warning: disturbing content 

A Queen’s Bench judge has imposed a three-year prison sentence upon a man who admitted sexually assaulting his roommates’ eight-year-old daughter more than a decade ago in Saskatoon.

The victim grew up not knowing where Terry William McCullough was or why he wasn’t facing charges, Justice Allisen Rothery said Thursday in delivering her sentencing decision. Court heard McCullough left Saskatoon in 2005 after police interviewed him in connection with the assaults. He told court he wasn’t aware that an information for a charge had been laid a short time later.

McCullough wasn’t located until 2015. He was charged with sexual assault and sexual interference and pleaded guilty to both offences in April. 

Outlining the aggravating factors that led to her sentencing decision, Rothery said McCullough blamed police for not finding him instead of admitting he breached probation when he left Saskatoon. 

The Crown argued for a four-year sentence, pointing to previous cases in which other child sex offenders received similar sentences. Rothery said she isn’t bound by those decisions, noting that in this case, McCullough’s guilty plea spared the victim from having to testify, and he’s shown remorse for what he did 12 years ago. 

The court helped facilitate a face-to-face meeting between McCullough and the victim after last month’s sentencing submissions. Defence lawyer Michael Nolin said it was the first time he’s ever seen that happen in the court system. 

Nolin argued for a sentence of between one and two years less a day, noting the fact that a sex offence involved a child victim was not considered an aggravating factor in 2005. Rothery disagreed with the defence argument that the landscape around child sex assaults has drastically changed between 2005 and today. 

McCullough sexually assaulted the victim multiple times between December 2004 and June 2005. He was abusing alcohol at the time and although he does not remember committing the assaults, he doesn’t dispute them either, Nolin said. 

Part of McCullough’s sentence bans him from going to parks and pools for 10 years after his release. He also cannot be around anyone under 16 years of age unless he is supervised by someone who is aware of his conviction.

The three-year sentence applies only on the sexual interference charge; the sexual assault charge was stayed as per the Kienapple principle, a rule against allowing multiple convictions on similar offences stemming from the same crime. 

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Michael James Robertson knows he has to go to prison for fatally stabbing a man during an argument over a cellphone chip; he alluded to it himself.

“I don’t think I deserve a chance right now,” Robertson said during cross-examination at his dangerous offender hearing in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench on Friday. 

But he’s hoping it won’t be an indefinite sentence: Robertson said he’s young and wants to learn, take programs and eventually be out in the world again.

After spending almost five years behind bars for a violent robbery, Robertson got a taste of freedom when he got out on statutory release in late 2014. He was living in a halfway house in Alberta, working and trying to straighten out his life, when he ran away and breached his parole in February 2015, he explained when he took the stand on Thursday.

Robertson said he got spooked after phone calls from an RCMP officer and then his parole officer. Both wanted to meet with him, but they wouldn’t tell him why, he said. He feared he was going back into custody for some unknown reason and fled to see his family in Saskatchewan. 

That led to reconnecting with negative people, drinking and selling drugs, Robertson said. On March 12, 2015, he ended up at a Saskatoon home where 42-year-old Rocky Genereaux lived. Robertson accused Genereaux of stealing his phone chip and stabbed him in the stomach. 

He had only been out of prison for five months.

Rocky Genereaux

Robertson was arrested a month after the stabbing. He told court he had started using methamphetamine and ran from police.

“I just wanted to die,” he said. Robertson testified he could have avoided the altercation by staying at the halfway house and not carrying a knife. The fact that he always carries a knife is a huge risk factor in committing violent offences, a forensic psychiatrist testified earlier. 

Robertson went to trial last June, claiming the killing was in self-defence because Genereaux threatened him with an HIV-infected needle. The jury didn’t buy it, but convicted him of manslaughter instead of second-degree murder. Instead of proceeding to sentencing in the usual way, the Crown is seeking to have Robertson designated a dangerous offender and sentenced to an indefinite prison term.

Hoping to explain his criminal past, Robertson said he was beaten by his foster father and had little family support before he was recruited into a gang at 15. Some of his family members were part of the gang, including his father; Robertson said he was forced to join.  

Most of his crimes from then on were gang-related, he said. Robertson became a high-ranking member but testified he tried to leave in 2012 by requesting a transfer to a penitentiary without a gang unit. He was denied and remained in the gang until his statutory release. 

At the hearing, Robertson testified he is no longer in a gang and his gang tattoos have been removed. 

The case was adjourned until October for arguments.

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• Dangerous offender hearing underway for man who killed Rocky Genereaux
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Warning: graphic content

In a world where children are referred to as a number — their age — Philip Michael Chicoine always chose the youngest when paying women in the Philippines and Romania to live stream the sexual abuse of their children, purely for his own enjoyment. 

He would instruct the women to perform sex acts on kids as young as 10 months. Chicoine would also direct the children to perform sex acts on each other. Most of them were between four and 12 years old.

Chicoine, 27, rarely moved in the prisoner’s box, his eyes downcast as his graphic, violent conversations with overseas abusers were detailed during his sentencing hearing in Saskatoon provincial court on Monday. He pleaded guilty in April to 40 charges, including child luring, sharing child porn and arranging to commit sexual offences against children.

The offences happened between 2011 and 2017. Police discovered evidence of the live streaming during a search of Chicoine’s home after he uploaded child porn to a social media account.

Court heard Chicoine spent $23,000 on child porn, mainly from the Philippines. In chat messages read out in court, victims in the Philippines would ask him for money to pay off debts, and would send him sexual images and videos in return. At one point, he received a message saying a 14-year-old victim was threatening to commit suicide. 

“If she kills herself, I want to see a photo of her naked body,” Chicoine replied.

The Crown is seeking a 17-year prison term, which would be the highest child porn sentence in Saskatchewan by nine years. 

Cpl. Jared Clarke, an investigator with the Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit, said the abusers in Romania have been sentenced and the child victims are now safe, but the Philippines investigation continues to involve an “uphill battle” with authorities. 

Clarke said this case is unique because of the financial aspect and the range of offences — the fact that Chicoine was sharing child porn, trying to lure children and talking about committing offences with other pedophiles.

Court heard he would take screen shots of the overseas live-stream abuse, but also had a large collection of “hurt core” porn, depicting the torture of children. In chat conversations with other pedophiles, Chicoine would talk about hurting kids during sex acts. 

Clarke, who has spent six years in the ICE unit, said the images found on the offender’s computer devices constitute “by far the most depraved collection I’ve ever seen.” 

Chicoine’s charges also pertain to sexual videos and photos he exchanged with young girls on chat networks in 2016 and 2017. One conversation involved arranging to meet a girl, who said she was 13 years old and lived in Saskatoon, for sex. Although graphic images and messages were sent, a meeting never took place. 

Judge Vanessa Monar Enweani adjourned the case until June 29 for the continuation of sentencing. The defence has yet to make any arguments. 

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Related

• Philip Chicoine pleads guilty to 40 charges for helping live stream overseas child sex abuse

The only reasonable sentence for a man who slammed into the back of a truck at 113 km/h on a city street is a jail term, a Saskatoon judge says.

Queen’s Bench Justice Daryl Labach disagreed with the defence’s argument that Dustin Joseph Gordon Lalonde should serve a 90-day intermittent jail term, which would allow him to keep his job.

“I am not convinced that (an intermittent sentence) would deter him or others from driving dangerously in the future,” Labach said before sentencing Lalonde to six months in jail.

Lalonde, 28, pleaded guilty last month to one count of dangerous driving causing bodily harm in connection with an incident on March 28, 2015. Court heard Lalonde’s quad-size truck was going 139 km/h just seconds before he rear-ended a truck full of people stopped at the intersection of 22nd Street and Avenue P.

The impact caused a chain reaction that damaged four vehicles and injured three people. Some victims said they are still dealing with neck and back pain as a result of the crash. 

Lalonde had been drinking alcohol that night, but his initial charges of impaired driving and driving with a blood-alcohol content over .08 were withdrawn because of an issue with the way his blood samples were obtained, Crown prosecutor Michael Pilon said during last month’s sentencing arguments.

Pilon argued for a one-year jail term, but Labach ruled that length of sentence is usually reserved for more serious circumstances or for people who have committed other criminal driving offences. 

Although Lalonde’s driver’s abstract includes prior incidents of stunting, speeding, driving without due care and attention and an at-fault rear-end collision, Labach disagreed with the Crown’s submission that the sentence should include a driving ban. Lalonde was on bail conditions that prohibited him from driving for the past year and a half, even though he hadn’t been convicted of a crime, Labach noted.

“For the court to further prohibit him from driving now that he has pled guilty would constitute excessive punishment,” he said, adding the fact that Lalonde will be suspended from driving for a period of time through SGI  “is punishment enough.”

Labach did order Lalonde to provide a sample of his DNA to the national data bank, saying dangerous driving causing bodily harm is “a serious offence of significant gravity.”

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In a Saskatoon courtroom, Laureen Plageman quietly approached the drunk driver who killed her daughter and grandson five years ago on a Saskatchewan highway.

Bending down to where he sat in his wheelchair, she whispered in his ear: “I forgive you.”

Outside provincial court, Plageman said she wanted to let him know that she’s been praying for him and wishes him well. Meanwhile, she remembered her daughter and grandson as “heroes.”

“They had an inner beauty that just shone out, and it shone bright,” she said. 

Laureen Plageman gets a hug outside Saskatoon provincial court on June 22, 2017. 

Ashley Plageman, 26, and her five-year old son Treyden were killed in a head-on collision near Hague on June 24, 2012.

James Heinrich Penner was driving north in the southbound lanes of Highway 11 with a blood-alcohol level of .35 — more than four times the legal limit, Crown prosecutor Paul Goldstein said during Penner’s sentencing hearing on Thursday. 

Ashley’s boyfriend and three-year-old daughter were injured in the crash but survived. They were heading home to Saskatoon from Prince Albert, Plageman said. 

Loud cries rang out in the courtroom when court heard Ashley’s last words to a witness at the scene were “Save my kids.”

Penner, 36, pleaded guilty to two charges each of driving with a blood-alcohol level over the legal limit causing death and bodily harm.

Friends and family of the victims heard it was Penner’s third alcohol-related conviction, to which someone responded, “That’s disgusting.”

Penner was also severely injured in the crash. He is now paraplegic, has a brain injury and requires constant medical attention, posing a unique sentencing dilemma. Court heard if Penner was healthy, he would get a lengthy prison term. However, neither the Saskatchewan Penitentiary nor the Regional Psychiatric Centre can provide the level of care he requires. 

The Crown was advised that if Penner received a provincial jail sentence of two years less a day, two guards would have to watch over him at the Parkridge Centre — where he receives long-term medical care — 24 hours a day until the end of his sentence. The Crown and defence agreed it would not be the best use of resources.

Instead, they jointly proposed a $4,000 fine, which Judge Sanjeev Anand reluctantly imposed. He said even though the proportionate sentence for Penner is prison, “it could in essence be a death sentence” because of Penner’s medical conditions and would go against the charter of rights. 

“Nothing I can do to him will come close to what he’s done to himself,” Anand said to the victims’ family. 

Plageman said while it’s inconceivable to put a dollar value on the lost lives, she understands the judge’s difficult decision.  

In a statement read by defence lawyer Michael Owens, Penner said he remembers nothing from the day of the fatal crash but knows “It’s all my fault.”

“I suffer from an ugly pain both inside and outside of me,” he said, while acknowledging the suffering he caused and asking for forgiveness — which, in the end, Plageman offered. 

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MELFORT — When Stacey Lewis arrived to pick up her nine-year-old daughter from her ex-husband’s home in Hudson Bay, Sask., Steven Lee Lewis grabbed a shotgun and fired it through the front door while his daughter watched. 

He then fired four more shots into his estranged wife’s body, walked to the RCMP detachment and turned himself in. Stacey’s mother and stepfather discovered their daughter lying in the doorway with wounds to her head and torso.

No words were exchanged: she simply rang the doorbell and was shot, Crown prosecutor Wade Rogers said, calling it an offence of “incredible cruelty.”

The facts surrounding the murder were presented on Wednesday in Melfort Court of Queen’s Bench after Lewis, 32, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was originally charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 3 shooting, but Rogers said a plea deal was made to spare their daughter from having to testify. 

He said Lewis deserves a long period of parole ineligibility considering the circumstances and the fact he shot Stacey in front of her child. Justice Lyle Zuk accepted a joint submission from the Crown and defence, sentencing Lewis to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 22 years. The maximum parole ineligibility period for second-degree murder is 25 years. 

In his victim impact statement, Stacey’s boyfriend described her as a kind, gentle person whose life ended because of a “selfish, pointless, cowardly act.” Other family members said all she wanted was a good life for her loved ones. Many said her murder left them wondering “Why?”

“I should never have had to bury my baby sister,” Jason Knutson said of his 27-year-old sibling. 

Court heard Lewis had been representing himself in a family court matter over custody of their daughter and four-year-old son, who was waiting in a vehicle when his mother was killed. 

The little boy now draws pictures of a monster with a gun, Stacey’s sister-in-law told court.

In a written statement, Lewis said he’s not a violent person but became “overwhelmed” at the thought of losing his family. 

“I will forever regret what I have done,” he wrote.

Lewis has major depressive disorder and attempted suicide when his relationship with Stacey ended two years ago, defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle said. Despite his mental health issues, the people around him were “completely shocked” by what happened, Pfefferle added.

Providing reasons for his sentence, Zuk said the crime left the community of Hudson Bay in fear and two children without a mother and father. A family member said Lewis’s daughter blames herself for what happened because she was the reason her mother came to the house that day. 

Outside court, Knutson noted “There’s always other options” for dealing with child custody cases. 

“This was the worst option available.”

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*Warning: disturbing content

The Saskatoon man who paid and directed impoverished women in Romania and the Philippines to live-stream the sexual abuse of their children is just as culpable as the abusers, a Crown prosecutor argued.

“Without the accused, the abuse would not have been perpetrated,” prosecutor Lana Morelli said during the sentencing hearing of Philip Michael Chicoine, which resumed on Thursday in Saskatoon provincial court.

Morelli said the fact that the women were already selling online child sex abuse shows doesn’t matter — the only relevant factor is that Chicoine participated. 

The 27-year-old pleaded guilty to 40 charges including possessing, distributing and making child porn and arranging to commit sexual offences against children between 2011 and 2017. 

The Crown argued for a 17-year sentence, which would be the longest child porn-related sentence in Saskatchewan history. Morelli said Chicoine was a party to a “breach of trust” when he paid vulnerable mothers to abuse their kids for his own sexual gratification. 

Court heard there were between 19 and 22 child victims. Most were between four and 12 years old; some were as young as 10 months. Chicoine instructed women to perform sex acts on children and then created videos and pictures that he shared with others. He spent $23,000 for the live-stream sex abuse. 

Morelli listed aggravating factors such as the nature of Chicoine’s child porn collection — which included “hurt core” material depicting the torture and sexual abuse of babies — the large amount of material, the duration of offending and his attempts at hands-on offending. 

There is a difference between hands-on offending and the type of offending Chicoine was involved with, defence lawyer Val Harvey said in arguing for a seven-year sentence. She said her client’s desire to get help and willingness to plead guilty should be considered mitigating factors.

Chicoine likely lands somewhere on the Asperger’s spectrum and has been ostracized and bullied starting in high school and continuing into the work world, Harvey said, adding her client’s first sexual encounter was with a sex worker a year and a half ago. 

“He’s been alone most of his life,” Harvey said. 

However, court heard Chicoine has very supportive family members who cannot understand how their loved one “went down this road.” Chicoine’s parents were in court for both days of his sentencing hearing. 

Harvey said her client can’t articulate the reasons for his behaviour but recognizes the harm he caused the victims. She said he cried when she read him one of the victim impact statements.

When asked if he had anything to say to the court, Chicoine looked down and shook his head. 

Although his pre-sentence report indicates he wanted to stop victimizing children but didn’t know how, Morelli noted he was still trying to meet up with kids in Saskatoon the day before he was arrested in March. 

A sentencing decision is expected on Sept. 21. 

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Related

• Crown seeks 17-year term for Saskatoon man who paid for live streamed child sex abuse

Watch: In a regular feature, StarPhoenix court reporter Bre McAdam talks about some of the cases that went through Saskatoon courts this week.

Conspiring to bring a kilogram of cocaine from Alberta to Saskatoon has landed a member of the Fallen Saints Motorcycle Club with a four-year prison sentence after he was caught in a massive police investigation called Project Forseti. 

In secretly recorded conversations from March 2014, Bradley Carl Mann agreed to go to Alberta to test the cocaine. If it was high quality, he would ensure the suppliers got their money and that the drugs came back to Saskatoon, court heard during Mann’s sentencing in Court of Queen’s Bench last month. 

Federal Crown prosecutor Lynn Hintz said another Fallen Saints member, Justin Murray Smith, had earlier ordered a kilogram of cocaine into Saskatoon, but it was returned to Alberta when he wasn’t able to pay for it. Smith then offered the drugs to Noel Harder, a Fallen Saints member and known drug dealer who became a police agent on Project Forseti. 

Harder discussed the deal with Mann and another man named Denis Selskiy in his truck on March 25, 2014. When Harder was caught with guns three days later, he agreed to work with police and told them what happened with the cocaine, Hintz said.

Although the original suppliers brought the cocaine back to Saskatoon, surveillance video at Harder’s business shows Mann drive up in Harder’s work truck, leave the vehicle keys in a mailbox and walk away. Harder later retrieved the kilogram of cocaine that was left in the truck, according to the agreed facts presented in court.

Mann, 38, pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy to traffic cocaine. The four-year sentence was jointly proposed by the Crown and defence lawyer Chris Lavier. 

Court heard Mann was a truck driver, but hopes to take job training in prison and distance himself from his previous lifestyle. 

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A Meadow Lake RCMP officer has had his off-duty assault charge withdrawn after going through mediation.

Cst. Khen Wilkins was charged in August 2016 in connection to an altercation at a private gathering in Meadow Lake on Dec. 14, 2015. When Wilkins was charged, he had already returned to regular duty following a Code of Conduct investigation, according to an RCMP news release. Wilkins was on administrative duty throughout the investigation.

Both Meadow Lake provincial court and the Regina Crown prosecutors office confirmed Wilkins’s assault charge was withdrawn on June 26. 

For a case to go to mediation, the accused must accept some level of responsibility in the matter, according to Tim Nolin, executive director of Saskatoon Community Mediation Services. He said Crown prosecutors look at the particulars of a case and decide if it meets the criteria necessary for mediation. 

The out-of-court process looks at appropriate resolutions, often agreed upon by the victim and accused. They can include financial compensation, an apology letter or community service. 

The mediation resolutions in specific cases are kept confidential “because it encourages the participation of all the parties,” Nolin said.

Once mediation is successfully completed, charges are withdrawn and the accused does not have a criminal record. 

After Wilkins was charged, the interim detachment coordinator for Meadow Lake RCMP, Cpl. Ryan How, told paNOW that the charge does not reflect Wilkins’s efforts as a police officer. 

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• Meadow Lake RCMP officer charged with assault in off-duty incident

A Saskatoon man who hit a woman with a hammer, then stabbed her, will serve his jail sentence in the community so that he can care for his visually impaired wife. 

The jointly-proposed conditional sentence of two years less a day takes into account that Robert Walter Barycki is the full-time caretaker of his wife, Crown prosecutor Jaimie MacLean told court.

Barycki, 59, was sentenced on Tuesday in Saskatoon provincial court after he pleaded guilty to two counts of assault with a weapon against the same woman on June 25, 2015.

He went to the victim’s residence looking for her partner, who he said owed him money, according to the Crown’s facts. MacLean said Barycki threatened to hit the woman with a hammer, left, then came back and struck her in the face with the weapon.

He then tried stabbing the woman in her stomach, but the blade pierced her foot, which she used to block the attack, court heard.

Witnesses reported seeing Barycki get out of a car with a hammer and walk into a suite, followed by loud noises and a woman yelling “I don’t have the money.”

Barycki told court he was “broke” and that the victim and her partner owed him money. He said after the assault, he apologized to the woman when they ran into each other at the Friendship Inn. 

“I’m so sorry it happened,” he said in court.

The victim has been difficult to locate and did not submit an impact statement, MacLean said. 

Barycki also pleaded guilty to threatening a police officer during his arrest. He said when he learned police were looking for him in connection to the assault, he “guzzled down a bottle of booze.” Although he doesn’t remember threatening the officer, Barycki said he doesn’t dispute it, either. 

Defence lawyer Michael Buchinski said his client hasn’t consumed alcohol since the incident. He argued the assault falls on the lower end of the spectrum. 

“I don’t consider stabbing someone to be ‘low end’,” Judge Bria Huculak remarked before accepting the proposed conditional sentence. Barycki’s conditions include a curfew, no alcohol, drugs or weapons and participating in addiction programming and counselling. 

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A Queen’s Bench judge’s decision to convict a man of conspiring to traffic cocaine to Saskatoon from Edmonton weighed heavily on the testimony of a controversial police agent. 

Noel Harder testified at the Saskatoon trial of Denis Selskiy in May, saying he agreed to buy a kilogram of cocaine from Selskiy for $53,000. The plan involved sending Harder’s associate to Edmonton with Selskiy to test the product and ensure its quality before buying it and bringing it back to Saskatoon.

Harder said he first discussed the plan with Selskiy at a Saskatoon bar on March 24, 2014. The next day, they met up with Bradley Carl Mann — the associate — and solidified the deal in Harder’s truck. Mann and Selskiy took Harder’s work truck to Edmonton and returned a day later; Harder testified the drugs came back with the supplier, whom they met in a parking lot. He told court he waited a few days before retrieving the cocaine from his truck, where Selskiy had left it. 

In his decision, Justice Jeff Kalmakoff said there are other pieces of evidence, including police surveillance, vehicle tracking and recorded intercepted conversations. 

“But in the absence of Mr. Harder’s testimony, there would be no meat on the bones of the Crown’s case,” Kalmakoff stated.

Police had been watching Harder and other members of the Fallen Saints Motorcycle Club: They were targets of Project Forseti, a police investigation into drug and gun trafficking in and around Saskatoon. Harder was arrested for transporting guns just days after the drug deal and became a paid police agent in exchange for charges being dropped.

The defence argued Harder’s testimony isn’t credible because of his “double life,” criminal history and his deal with police. Kalmakoff said while Harder’s evidence does require “caution and care,” some of it is corroborated by other evidence. 

There is proof that Harder called Mann after his meeting with Selskiy and picked Mann up the next day. Recorded conversations also place Mann and Selskiy in Harder’s work truck, where they discussed the trip to Edmonton. A surveillance team later observed the men counting bills on the truck’s dashboard.

Kalmakoff said while none of that evidence is completely independent of Harder, he is satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that when put together, it points to Harder’s credibility. 

Conspiracy requires an intention to agree, the completion of an agreement to commit an indictable offence and an intention to carry out that agreement. Kalmakoff said the conversations between Harder and Selskiy demonstrate that Selskiy intended to reach an agreement to traffic cocaine, and intended to put that agreement into action.

“There is no other rational conclusion I can reach based on the evidence as a whole,” Kalmakoff concluded before finding Selskiy guilty of conspiracy to traffic cocaine. 

Selskiy’s sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 3. Last month, Mann received a four-year sentence  on the same conspiracy charge.

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A man who broke into mailboxes in seven different Saskatoon apartment buildings and made 34 transactions with stolen credit cards has been sentenced to 18 months in jail.

Between Dec. 11, 2016 and Jan. 22, 2017, Christopher Bear went on a “spree” of breaking into apartment mailboxes and fraudulently using credit cards at gas stations, convenience stores and banks around Saskatoon. He pleaded guilty last week to 19 counts of fraud and seven break and enters. 

Court heard that on Dec. 16, 2016, Bear made 19 transactions valuing $2,200 using a credit card that had gone missing from an apartment building mailbox. He used a different stolen credit card to defraud Co-op of $2,260 between Dec. 20 and 23. 

Four different fraudulent transactions were made at a gas station between Dec. 21 and Jan. 22 and between Jan 10 and 21, another stolen credit card was used four more times, totalling $1,363.

Many of the defrauded businesses had video surveillance, which helped identify Bear as a suspect, Crown prosecutor Dan Dahl said during Bear’s sentencing in Saskatoon provincial court. He said the credit card companies ended up paying, but did not seek any restitution. 

The break and enters occurred at apartment buildings on Saskatchewan Crescent, Prairie Avenue, 33rd Street West, Willis Crescent, Reid Road and Wedge Road between Dec 11, 2016 and Jan 14, 2017. In all cases, Bear gained access to the building by either buzzing a tenant or sneaking through an open door. He would then break into mailboxes, looking for credit cards or money.

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However, Dahl said it was difficult for police to determine what was stolen because the complainants didn’t know what mail they were missing. Police did not find any documents on Bear when they arrested him, court heard. 

Dahl said the jointly-submitted sentence of 18 months is on the lower end of the range — considering the number of offences — because Bear’s guilty pleas spared the Crown from having to call many witnesses at a trial that would have taken several days. 

“I regret it, a lot,” Bear told court. “I’m not there for my kids and that’s kind of what put me here, is not having who I needed.”

Defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle said Bear had drug debts to pay off after getting involved with gangs and using crystal meth when he came to Saskatoon in 2010. He’s since connected with STR8 Up, an organization that helps people drop their gang affiliations, and Teen Challenge, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre for men. 

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A judge handed a penitentiary sentence to a Martensville man who says he is addicted to child pornography — to the point where he continued downloading it even after his wife caught him. 

Around 12,000 images were found on Dale Edward Blair’s computer in 2016 after police were alerted through an investigation into child porn being shared on a social messaging app called Kik. 

Police found a user had sent 34 child porn files — depicting sexual abuse of children mostly under five years of age — to a chat group in 2009, Crown prosecutor Lana Morelli told court. A notification indicated that the same user shared more child porn in October 2016. 

The user was determined to be Blair and a search warrant was issued on Dec. 21, 2016. Blair admitted downloading child porn and using Kik to share it. 

“He’s relieved not to have to hide this anymore,” defence lawyer Lisa Watson said. 

Blair, 30, was sentenced on Monday in Saskatoon provincial court to three years in prison after pleading guilty to one count each of accessing, possessing and sharing child porn. Judge Marilyn Gray imposed the sentence, which was jointly submitted by the Crown and defence. Each charge carries a minimum sentence of one year, but Blair received three years for each charge, to be served concurrently. 

Morelli said aggravating factors include the young age of the victims and the size of Blair’s collection — which was larger before he deleted a portion of it when his wife discovered the files in November 2016. Although he tried to get rid of the material, Blair “felt a compulsion to return to it,” Watson said. 

There is no evidence of Blair ever directly harming a child, even though his pre-sentence report indicated he was a victim of child sexual abuse. Watson argued the sexual abuse contributed to her client’s offending and mental health issues; court heard Blair has been suicidal since he was charged but immediately sought counselling with his wife’s support. 

Because there was no “hands-on” offending, a sex offender risk assessment could not be done, Watson said. She noted that another recidivism tool determined he was a low risk to reoffend. Blair hopes to access sex offender treatment while in prison, court heard. 

For three years after his release, Blair will be banned from visiting pools, parks or playgrounds unless he’s with an adult who is aware of his conviction. He will also be prohibited from using the internet, except at work. 

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A woman charged in connection with the death of Cynthia Crampton — the victim of Saskatoon’s seventh homicide of 2016 — has been sentenced after pleading guilty to accessory after the fact to murder. 

Tammy Lynn Poffley, 53, entered her plea on Wednesday in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench and received a provincial jail sentence of two years less a day after Justice Gerald Allbright accepted the Crown and defence’s joint sentencing submission. He gave Poffley an enhanced remand credit of 438 days (1.5 days for every day she spent on remand), leaving her 10 more months to serve. 

Allbright ordered a publication ban on any evidence and submissions heard at Poffley’s sentencing hearing, to remain in place until the man accused of killing Crampton, Tyler Hurd, has been dealt with by the court. Hurd is charged with first-degree murder; his case has yet to go to trial. 

According to police news releases, Crampton, 55, was found dead on June 3, 2016 in a home on Galloway Road in Saskatoon’s Stonebridge neighbourhood. Poffley and Hurd were arrested two days later near Asquith.

Poffley’s sentence also includes a one-year probation period following her release from jail. 

“You couldn’t have made a worse judgment call,” Allbright told Poffley during his ruling, urging her to make better decisions in the future. 

Shortly after Crampton’s death, friends and family members set up a GoFundMe page to help support her two daughters. A friend told the StarPhoenix that a trust has also been set up in Crampton’s name at Affinity Credit Union. 

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Finding a good home for a neglected dog can take time — and sometimes, there isn’t enough room in a shelter. Foster-based rescues across the province remove dogs from dire situations and place them in homes until they are adopted out. Bre McAdam spoke to a local organization about what dog fostering entails. 

Q: How does it work? 

A: Foster-based rescues usually consist of a Facebook page and a dedicated group of volunteers who keep their eyes out for abandoned or homeless dogs. Courtney Fisher, volunteer coordinator with Saskatoon Dog Rescue, says as soon as a dog is rescued, a photo and description is posted to Facebook and the search for a foster family begins. Fosters don’t have to pay for anything: food, toys, kennels, even medical bills are all covered. There is a vetting process to ensure the house is suitable for fostering, and fosters get first dibs on adoption. 

Q: How does it differ from shelter-based adoption?

A: Instead of having a facility where the dogs are kept, foster-based rescues use volunteers’ homes as temporary shelters. The one-on-one attention helps socialize dogs and ease them into the transition of adoption, Fisher says. There’s also no long-term commitment with fostering: you can take in an animal for a month and then take a break for as long as you like. It’s also a great option when shelters become overrun. 

Q: Why is it important?

A: Fostering is a less stressful avenue for dogs, who crave the affection that comes with being in someone’s home. As Fisher puts it: “I get to take another dog out of having to sleep outside.” Foster “doggie parents” also get to pass on valuable knowledge to adopters. “All of the facilities do a great job advertising their adoptables, but it’s kind of cool to put a dog in a house and have that person advertise that dog,” Fisher says. 

Q: What if there’s an issue? 

A: Volunteers are in contact with fosters and can be reached if there are any problems with a placement, Fisher says. Foster parents are also encouraged to be transparent with potential adopters about any issues they’ve had with the animal — but more often than not, those flaws get worked out through the fostering process.

These four-week-old puppies were found under a set of stairs and are currently being fostered through Saskatoon Dog Rescue. 

Q: Do people get attached? 

A: It’s a common question, Fisher says, and she can’t promise it won’t happen. But she says she loves getting to meet new dogs and contribute to finding them the best possible home, which in the end, may not be her own. Her message to those on the fence: “If you try it once, you don’t ever have to foster again. But I promise (that) you will.”

Q: What are some of the rescue situations? 

A: Saskatoon Dog Rescue takes in dogs from all over the province and currently fosters approximately 27 dogs. Most of them come from northern communities. Fisher recently helped rescue a dog that lost its paw in a trap, and another dog whose eye was hit with porcupine quills. The most recent addition to the group was a mom and her puppies, who were found under a set of stairs. Fisher says sometimes they get dogs from people who can no longer care for them.

Q: Is there currently a need for fosters? 

A: There’s always a need for dog fostering in the province, Fisher says, adding, “We don’t like to take in dogs that we don’t have spots for.” Several organizations in and around Saskatoon are pairing people with pups:

• Saskatoon Dog Rescue: on Facebook/saskatoondogrescue.com
• New Hope Dog Rescue (Saskatoon): newhoperescue.org/newhoperescue@hotmail.com/ (306) 668-8153
• Size Small Dog Rescue (Saskatoon): on Facebook, ssdr.ca
• SPCA Saskatoon: saskatoonspca.com, (306) 374-7387
• Adopt a Paw Pet Haven (Saskatoon): on Facebook, adoptapawpethaven.com
• Prairie Pooches Rescue (Cando, Sask.): on Facebook, prairiepoochesrescue.com
• Hanna’s Haven (Saskatoon): on Facebook, hannashavendogrescue.wixsite.com/mysite

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