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BARRHEAD – Two Drayton Valley men were fined more than $5,000 and sentenced to a year of probation last week in connection with a copper wire theft at a well site near Swan Hills.
In Barrhead Court of Justice June 27, Clinton Ray James and Seth Eric Johnson each pleaded guilty to theft under $5,000.
Justice Gregory Rice sentenced Johnson in line with the joint submission from the Crown and defence to a fine of $2,500, giving him until early December to pay.
He was also sentenced to 12 months of probation, during which time he must keep the peace and be of good behaviour, appear before court when required to do so and to not attend any Secure Energy facility in Alberta.
However, when it came to sentencing James, Justice Rice rejected the joint submission for a $1,000 fine and 12 months of probation, noting that Johnson was the driver of the vehicle that the two men had driven out to the well site and was in possession of a small amount of crystal meth.
“You can’t come here and do better,” Justice Rice said, adding that copper wire theft was a serious problem in Alberta.
In the end, Justice Rice sentenced James to a $2,500 fine plus a $250 victim fine surcharge, giving him until June 25, 2024 to pay off the amount (or at least begin making payments).
He also sentenced James to a year of probation, the terms of which were basically the same as Johnson’s probation except that he must also attend any assessment, counselling or treatment as directed by probation and complete 100 hours of community service by April 23, 2024.
The facts
Crown prosecutor Andrew Dirgo said that on March 6, 2023, the Swan Hills RCMP were dispatched to a break-and-enter occurring at an inactive well site near Swan Hills.
He said the RCMP were contacted by an employee of the company Secure Energy, who told them they had received a notification via security cameras at the well site that an unauthorized vehicle had entered the property and appeared to be removing copper wiring.
Dirgo said the police attended the site and located a vehicle leaving via the single snowed-in access road. Inside the vehicle were James and Johnson, who were arrested without incident.
A search incidental to arrest turned up half a gram of crystal meth in James’ possession, along with various lengths of copper wire in the vehicle, which was being driven by James.
Johnson’s lawyer Douglas Holman noted that in terms of mitigation, his 23-year-old client was co-operative with police and was entering an early guilty plea.
He said Johnson, who lives with his mother in Drayton Valley, is currently working with a friend and expects that employment to last all summer. However, a victim fine surcharge would put additional hardship on him, so he asked it to be waived.
Duty counsel Gail Gerhart, who represented James, said he ad intended to resolve this matter earlier but he had been affected by the Drayton Valley evacuation order in early May.
Justice Rice said he always follows joint submissions unless they put the system of justice into disrepute. However, upon noticing the disparity in fines between Johnson and James, he indicated he could not go along with the recommended sentence.
Justice Rice pointed out that the thieves who go out to well sites or telecommunications towers to steal copper wire can earn thousands of dollars to buy drugs with, so it’s basically worth it even if they get caught once in a while if they only have to pay a $1,000 fine.
"It only starts to hurt bad when you go into the can,” he said, noting that in James’ case, he could have imposed a sentence of 30 to 60 days.
However, Justice Rice indicated he could be satisfied with the same fine handed out to Johnson while also imposing a victim fine surcharge and the aforementioned 100 hours of community service.
