ATHABASCA – An Athabasca-area woman who took her father’s truck without his permission, racked up close to $400 on a debit card that didn’t belong to her and then was caught with a butterfly knife, faces jail time and big fines she intends to pay off behind bars.
Appearing in Athabasca Provincial Court Jan. 23 via CCTV from the Edmonton Remand Centre, Kelly Anne Gambler, 38, pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to attend court and single charges of possession of a prohibited/restricted weapon, theft under $5,000, joyriding and failing to comply with release-order conditions.
Judge Thomas Achtymichuk agreed to a joint-sentence submission from Crown prosecutor Nicole Parker and defence lawyer Andrew Zebak on a 10-day jail sentence, plus $1,600 in fines she’ll pay off by serving time and a two-year weapons ban. Nine additional charges ranging from fraud under $5,000 to pointing a firearm, along with multiple failures to attend court, were withdrawn by Parker, who noted Gambler had a “very dated criminal record with only two prior entries” while Judge Achtymichuk waived the victim-fine surcharges.
“These are early guilty pleas and there are a number of files Ms. Gambler is resolving which saves court time which is very precious, and her admittance of responsibility is very mitigating,” said Parker.
Zebak told court that Gambler, whose four brothers are all deceased, has a Grade 10 education and is a member of the Bigstone Cree Nation.
“She has been on welfare and informs me that she is no longer receiving welfare payments as there may be a transition to AISH,” said Zebak, noting his client has been locked up since Jan. 11.
“I just want to get everything over and done with,” Gambler added.
Court heard that on Oct. 13, 2022, Gambler took her father’s truck without his permission — the truck was recovered the following morning and returned to her dad.
Parker then told court that on Oct. 30, 2022, Gambler caught a ride with another woman and stole her bank card — between then and Nov. 2, 2022, Gambler purchased $384 worth of goods from a store in Calling Lake using the stolen card.
Following, Gambler missed a pair of court dates, Nov. 28, 2022, and Jan. 3, 2023, while on Jan. 10, 2023, she was arrested outside a Sobeys store in Edmonton and police found a Visa debit card in her pocket that didn’t belong to her and a butterfly knife, which is a prohibited weapon.
