Steak-stealer gets jail time
The Daily Press
In Court - Wednesday, August 31, 2005 @ 07:00
A man released from jail last week is going back after stealing steak from the
A&P Superfresh, and re-selling it so that he could buy beer.
Isaacher Wesley, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of theft under $5,000 and one
count of failure to comply with a probation order in provincial court Tuesday.
Assistant Crown attorney Robert Parsons told court that on Aug. 26, just two
days after being released from jail, Wesley walked into the A&P Superfresh
store carrying a black grocery bag.
He walked around for five minutes, Parsons said, and then headed to aisle four,
where he shoved four steaks inside his shirt and three steaks in a basket.
He proceeded to walk out of the store when an employee stopped him and asked him
to return the meat.
Wesley continued out of the store, and police caught up with him at 2 a.m.
Wesley said he was at the Windsor Tavern and the St. Charles and had sold the
steaks for $10 each in order to buy beer.
“Mr. Wesley answered the timeless cultural question of ‘where’s the
beef?’” Parsons said.
Justice Martin Lambert sentenced Wesley to 45 days in jail.
“I’m not going to waste my time lecturing you because, obviously, you paid
no attention the last time,” Lambert said.
Man forges
prescriptions
A man caught forging prescriptions for oxycontin over a three-month period was
sentenced to jail.
Kevin Pearce, 37, pleaded guilty to six counts of uttering forged documents and
will spend 54 days in jail.
The court heard Pearce went to get a prescription for 60 40-milligram tablets
of oxycontin at Zellers Pharmacy on June 23.
Assistant Crown attorney Robert Parsons said the prescription was valid and was
filled.
On June 28, Pearce went to Vogl’s Pharmacy and presented a forged prescription
for another 60 tablets of oxycontin. That prescription was filled.
On July 11, Pearce once again headed to the Zellers Pharmacy and handed the
pharmacist a forged prescription for 60 oxycontin tablets. The pharmacist was
suspicious of the authenticity and only partially filled the prescription,
Parsons said.
Pearce walked away with 20 pills. The other 40 were held for verification.
On July 12, Pearce again tried to fill the same prescription. The pharmacist
noticed it had been photocopied and didn’t fill it.
Aug. 8, Pearce was confronted by the pharmacist at Shoppers Drug Mart when
another forged prescription was presented. The pharmacist stamped the
prescription as a forgery.
On Aug. 12, Pearce was caught by police after he went back to Vogl’s Pharmacy
with another forged prescription.
Defence lawyer Brad Sloan said his client’s original prescription was
legitimate.
“The majority of the items he bought were supplied to another individual,”
Sloan said.
Pearce invited police to review the security tapes to verify the individual was
present at least once while the prescriptions were being filled.
Sloan asked Justice Martin Lambert to consider a lighter sentence so Pearce can
enrol in school.
Parsons doubted how committed Pearce was to school.
“This must be a recent desire,” Parsons said of Pearce’s college ambition.
“He has been too busy committing offences.”
He said Pearce’s record ranges from trafficking to “pretty much all the
hodgepodge you might expect.”
“The position we’re taking is 90 days of real time,” he said.
Lambert agreed, minus time served.
“I’m not naive enough to think these narcotics were for your personal
consumption,” he said.
Ten months
for axe threat
A Fort Albany man who threatened to axe one victim’s father in the head was
given a stiff 10-month sentence.
Norman Williams, 37, pleaded guilty to one count of assault, two counts of
possession of a weapon and one count of threatening death or bodily harm.
The court heard Williams phoned an acquaintance on July 30 asking for money to
buy alcohol.
The 26-year-old mother of one said no, and Williams became agitated and
threatened to axe the young woman’s father in the head, assistant Crown
attorney Robert Parsons said.
The woman called the police, who phoned Williams’ 35-year-old sister.
She told police her brother was carrying a hatchet axe and punched her in the
face early that day.
Police apprehended Williams and confiscated the axe and a pocket knife.
Williams’ defence lawyer said his client’s upbringing was characterized by
poverty, alcoholism and violence, and that he was numbing his pain with alcohol.
He was quick to say Williams, however, was not using his alcoholism as an excuse
and doesn’t justify the violence and terror he inflicted on his victims.
The lawyer said Williams just wanted to focus on getting sober and working on
his drawings.
“He’s a gifted artist,” the lawyer said.
Parsons said Williams has an extensive criminal record, with periods of violence
dating back to 1985.
Justice Martin Lambert suggested a rehabilitation centre to help Williams
overcome his dependence on alcohol.
“It’s obvious you must address the demons within you before you kill
somebody,” he said.
Man escapes
jail time
A man who recently suffered a heart attack was ordered to pay a fine and
prohibited from driving for one year after he pleaded guilty to impaired
driving.
The court heard that on Oct. 1, 2004 at 2 a.m., police noticed a vehicle in
South Porcupine moving slowly and swerving.
They pulled over the vehicle, and detected a strong odor of alcohol on the
driver, Jacques Voyer, 50.
Assistant Crown attorney Wayne O’Hanley said Voyer was fumbling with his
documents, and a police officer had to physically catch him after he swayed in a
circle.
Voyer’s defence lawyer said his client suffered a heart attack three weeks ago
and suggested a fine would be an appropriate sentence.
Justice Martin Lambert gave Voyer six months to pay the $700 fine.
For information about corruption in the Timmins Police visit www.Timmins101.com