No jail for Legion thief
Ex-bartender receives one-year probation order for theft under $5,000
James Goldie
Northern News Services
Wednesday, October 15, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A woman who stole money and alcohol from the Vincent Massey branch of the Royal Canadian Legion earlier this year has been spared a jail sentence.
Former Legion bartender, Mary Charles, has been sentenced for stealing money and alcohol from her employer. In a letter to the court, local Legion president Lloyd Lush said the theft has shaken his trust in the organization's close-knit "family" of volunteers and employees. - James Goldie/NNSL photo
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Mary Charles, 43, was given a one-year probation order for her theft of $1,000 from the Legion during a five-month period beginning in September 2014. Charles had worked there full-time as a bartender for two years by the time she was arrested in February. The theft was discovered when an internal audit revealed unexpected losses in the organization's fundraising revenue, prompting the club to use security camera surveillance to monitor employee activity on the job.
According to Crown prosecutor Jeannie Scott, Charles was witnessed through this footage playing pull-tabs without paying for them, taking cash, consuming alcohol without paying, and taking alcohol from the bar before closing up and leaving at the end of the night.
The former bartender, along with a another woman working at the club, were initially accused of stealing more than $60,000 and charged with theft over $5,000, however, that charge was later reduced to theft under $5,000. Charges against the second woman were stayed earlier this year.
Charles admitted to stealing $1,000, which was the most prosecutors were able to prove. She pled guilty to the theft earlier this year.
In written victim impact statements read by Scott in court, long-time Legion volunteers expressed the betrayal they felt by Charles' action.
"I lost my ability to trust in people, and still have not got that back," wrote Nancy Hayward, the Legion's volunteer accountant. "I thought of (Charles) as a personal friend."
Lloyd Lush, Legion president in Yellowknife, could not be reached for comment by press time. However, in his victim impact statement Lush expressed similar sentiments, describing the Legion's volunteers and staff as "a family built on trust," which has been shaken since the theft.
"It's hard to move on as we did before . It saddens me we have come to this," his statement read.
Charles, who is from Saskatchewan and has lived in Yellowknife for seven years, chose not to address the court.
Her attorney, Jay Bran, said in the fall of last year Charles's brother and sister both died within the span of one month, causing her significant emotional angst and "as a result she turned to alcohol." Bran pointed out that his client had no previous criminal record and said she plans to leave Yellowknife and return to Saskatchewan to be with family.
"Hopefully (it will be) an opportunity for Ms. Charles to make a fresh start," he said.
Must repay money
Judge Garth Malakoe's ruling included standard probation conditions such as good behaviour and keeping the peace but it also requires Charles participate in substance abuse and grief counselling, repay the stolen money and complete 60 hours of community service.
Community service was not among the recommendations presented by the Crown. Malakoe said he felt his sentence must also reflect the impact the theft had on an organization that does "good work in this community."
Malakoe emphasized the theft from an employer constitutes a serious breach of trust, which is why he was not willing to give Charles a conditional discharge, adding a criminal record "must follow" an act of this nature.
"Ms. Charles has to realize how close she was to going to jail in this case," he said. "That happens across Canada . Jail is a real possibility (for those stealing from their employers)."
