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BARRHEAD – An area man is heading to jail for three years for his participation in a series of Barrhead-area break-ins that caused thousands of dollars in damage and left the property owners fearful for their safety.
In Barrhead Provincial Court Dec. 21, Jason Blyan pleaded guilty to breaking and entering for the purpose of stealing a firearm, mischief causing damage to property under $5,000, possession of a firearm contrary to a court order and possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm in a vehicle.
Judge Gordon Putnam agreed to a joint-sentence submission for 1,085 days in custody, however, having served 199 days already, Blyan was credited with 299 days on an enhanced basis leaving 786 days to serve — Blyan was also banned from owning firearms and will have to provide a sample of his DNA to the RCMP. Finally, he ordered the forfeiture of all seized items, while the victim-fine surcharge was waived and five remaining charges were withdrawn.
“I wish you the best. I believe you are sincere in wanting to make a change, but that will require you to be accountable and to take all of the steps necessary to get back on track,” said Judge Putnam while handing down the sentence.
The crimes
Court heard that at approximately 11:45 a.m. June 24, 2022, a local resident reported to RCMP that he had observed two individuals carrying firearms and breaking into his property along Range Road 14 in the County of Barrhead.
RCMP responded to that location and found a vehicle stuck in the mud between the residence and another nearby dwelling on Range Road 14.
RCMP eventually located a woman at the second residence, also located along Range Road 14 where she was arrested and a revolver with an assortment of ammunition was found in her backpack. Upon checking the second residence, police determined it had been “clearly broken into and ransacked,” said Crown prosecutor Anthony Estephan.
Searching further, a constable located a gun safe about 30 metres southwest of the dwelling which had been dropped into shallow water.
“It was apparent the safe was taken from the dwelling place, dragged to this location and intentionally covered with grass,” Estephan said, noting the corner of the safe was damaged and the dial was partly broken.
Police located Blyan at a third property along Range Road 14 where a break-and- enter had also been reported. Eventually, RCMP returned to the first residence that had sparked the investigation and found it heavily damaged and ransacked as a number of items had been stolen. Most concerningly, a gun safe had been pried open and four firearms were stolen and only one has since been recovered.
Also, a sea can and shed had been broken into and two tractors on the property had damaged ignitions. RCMP were also able to determine that several outbuildings and trailers on the third property had been ransacked and numerous items taken.
A fourth charge of possessing a firearm in a vehicle arose March 14, 2022, when Redwater RCMP received a report about an SUV stuck on a resident’s property. Another individual was driving the SUV, but Blyan was a passenger and determined the vehicle had been stolen March 1 in Edmonton.
Upon searching the vehicle, police located three rifles, one of which was loaded and found a “significant amount” of ammunition and an Amazon package that they were also able to determine had been pinched.
Sub: Victim impact statements
Estephan read two victim impact statements into the record, the first of which was from the first property-owner who detailed the economic damages to his equipment and home stating that this cabin had supposed to be a place of rest and relaxation.
The second statement was from the couple who owned the second residence that was broken into and detailed how the damages set them back financially, both in terms of material costs and the time they had to take off work.
However, the “real crime” was the feeling of unsafety that this incident had caused for both victims.
“We have a constant worry now of something similar happening. We feel a dread when we approach the property ... will we find damage? Will we find offenders committing more atrocities? Unfortunately, we’ll never feel the same level of safety on our property.”
The joint sentence
Estephan noted that Blyan had a long criminal record with a number of property- related and firearms offences, including one charge from November 2019 that resulted in him spending a year in jail.
Court heard that Blyan grew up on the Buffalo Lake Métis Settlement and had multiple relatives affected by their “deeply traumatizing” experiences attending residential schools. Ultimately, this led to further abuse and troubles with drug addiction. Although it was noted that Blyan had once been involved in rodeo and travelled across Alberta to compete in bullriding, he also struggled with addictions.
In particular, this separation from the mother of his two sons was a “significant tipping point” in his life in terms of his drug abuse getting away from him.
The purpose of sending Blyan to a federal institution for the first time was to take advantage of the programming there to beat his addiction and possibly finish his schooling and as such both the Crown and defence characterized the three-year sentence as a true joint submission.
When given the opportunity to speak, Blyan said he wanted to say sorry to the families that he caused trouble for and said that he had been struggling with meth addiction and alcohol abuse since the mother of his sons passed away and just wanted to get back to doing rodeo and living a 9-to-5 life.
“I’m going to do the best I can,” he said.
