Travis Neil Faragher, 28, pled guilty to four charges in relation to the Forfar theft ring last Monday in Athabasca Provincial Court.
Faragher pled guilty to one count of conspiring to commit a crime, two counts of failure to comply with conditions of undertaking or recognizance and one count of breaching probation.
On May 28, Athabasca RCMP had a property south of Athabasca under surveillance; they made four arrests that day and seized several hundred stolen items valued at as much as $150,000.
Faragher had missed several curfew checks and was discovered living on the property even though he had not been permitted to do so by his probation officer.
He has been in custody since his May 28 arrest and tried to plead guilty in October; however, evidence was still pouring in, and he was unable to do so.
In total, the judge sentenced him to 11 months in jail. Faragher had already served eight months, and the judge gave him credit for the remaining three months as a result of Faragher’s trying to plead guilty earlier.
Faragher was released last Monday after being ordered to give a DNA sample. He was also handed a three-year firearm ban and $400 in fines.
Each of the other three accused in the group arrested in the Forfar area has myriad charges against them. A trial has been set for Aug. 13-14 in Athabasca Provincial Court, at which Faragher has been asked to be present as a witness.
Kevin Dwayne Stubley, Joshua Alan Holmes and Maighdline Kinsella-Fortin each face multiple counts of possession of stolen property under $5,000, an offence that can be punished by summary conviction or that may be treated as indictable and carry a sentence of up to two years imprisonment.
Other charges against the group include unauthorized possession of a firearm, careless use of a firearm and possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition. The latter could carry a sentence of up to 10 years.
Additional related charges include possession of a firearm knowing its possession is unauthorized.
The trio also faces charges of possession of a break-in instrument “suitable for the purpose of breaking into any place, motor vehicle, vault or safe under circumstances that give rise to a reasonable inference that the instrument has been used or is or was intended to be used for such a purpose,” according to section 351 (1) of the Criminal Code.
That offence may also carry an imprisonment term of up to 10 years.
Ryan Calvin Grant, 30, pled guilty to dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, failure to stop and evading police, as well as two counts of possession of stolen property not exceeding $5,000.
Grant appeared in Athabasca Provincial Court last Monday and was sentenced to 15 months total jail time. He has already served two months in custody.
He was given $800 in fines and ordered to fulfill a DNA order. A three-year weapons prohibition and 18-month driving prohibition to begin after his release from jail were imposed.
On Nov. 29 on Highway 55, a Boyle RCMP officer was travelling in an unmarked car behind a Ford F-150 white pickup truck with a quad in the box.
The officer tried to pull the truck over and showed the driver his badge and gun to identify himself as an RCMP officer. The driver sped off in the truck and the Boyle officer notified the Athabasca RCMP detachment to be on the lookout for this truck.
An Athabasca RCMP officer deployed a spike belt in front of the truck but failed to stop the vehicle.
The truck fled with an RCMP officer in hot pursuit.
The truck continued into a field and toward a ravine on the opposite side of the field. The RCMP officer tried to box in the truck, at which point the driver rammed into the police truck on the passenger side. The RCMP truck pushed the pickup truck into the ravine, and the driver tried to flee on foot.
The RCMP officer detained Grant.
