Dine and dashers rip off hotel
Two people pled guilty to failing to pay for a nearly month-long stay at Miette Hot Springs Resort last summer.
According to the facts read in court, Alvina Strauss and Dwain Wog checked into the hotel on May 7, 2016. The pair were only scheduled to stay for a few days, but decided to extend their stay.
On the morning of June 3, house-cleaning staff entered the hotel room and noticed all of their belongings were gone. The general manager made several attempts to contact the couple who had not paid for their room, but was unsuccessful.
According to the Crown, the couple owed $2,665.05 and two unreturned hotel keys worth $20.
The pair had previously pled not guilty to the charges, but changed their plea in Jasper Provincial Court Jan. 26. Both pled guilty to fraudulently obtaining lodging.
As a result, Strauss was given a six-month conditional discharge, ordered to repay $1,342.52 in restitution (half of the total bill) and complete 20 hours of community service by July 24, 2017.
Wog, who has 54 entries on his criminal record, was given a two-month custodial sentence to be served in the community and ordered to abide by a curfew between 12 a.m. and 8 a.m. He was also ordered to repay $1,342.52 in restitution, $700 of which must be paid by Feb. 20 with the rest paid by March 20.
Local man pleads guilty to trafficking marijuana
A local man was given a six-month conditional sentence after pleading guilty to trafficking marijuana in Jasper Provincial Court, Jan. 26.
Judge V. Myers sentenced Guillaume Benoit to three months house arrest followed by a three-month curfew between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. He will also have to serve 40 hours of community service.
According to the Crown, on March 24, 2016 RCMP officers executed a search warrant at his house on Geikie Street and found 485.8 grams of marijuana as well as a scale, score sheets, and other drug paraphernalia. At the time the police estimated it was worth approximately $5,000.
While under house arrest he will be allowed to go to work, leave his house once a week to get groceries and do errands. During his three-month curfew he will be allowed to continue to play guitar at the Jasper Royal Canadian Legion on Friday nights. He is prohibited from consuming alcohol.
Man fined $700 for illegal fire
A man pled guilty and was charged $700 for maintaining an illegal fire at Horseshoe Lake.
According to the Crown, Igor Polonski and his friends started a fire in a rocky crevasse despite passing three signs from the trailhead parking lot prohibiting illegal campfires. The date of the fire was not stated.
The Crown alleged the group cut down or damaged seven trees in the area using a machete, however Polonski denied those claims.
According to Richard Ireland, his defense counsel, the trees were already damaged when they got there and the group used the machete to cut the trees into smaller pieces.
Ireland also told the judge the group made the fire to keep another friend warm who had been jumping into the cold lake.
According to the Crown, a sheathe for the machete was found at the site, but one of the members of the group accidently dropped the machete into the lake earlier in the day.
鈥淭hey agree a machete was used to make kindling from the wood that they recovered but not to cut down trees,鈥� said Ireland.
The Crown proposed an $800 fine for the fire, while Ireland suggested a fine between $300 to $500 would be more appropriate.
Judge V. Myers fined Polonski $700.聽
Paul Clarke [email protected]
