Yellowknife (July 09/04) - Krys McInnes has been sentenced to a total of eight years on charges related to the armed robbery of the Gallery of the Midnight Sun.

"The emphasis must be on deterrence," Justice Virginia Schuler said Wednesday as she sentenced McInnes.

Schuler rejected defense attorney Hugh Latimer's argument that the crime was not violent because no one was hurt.

"Anytime a firearm is carried, there is a potential for violence," Schuler said.

Schuler sentenced McInnes to six years for armed robbery, and one year each for obstructing justice and concealing his identity. McInnes got a one-year credit for six months in pre-trial custody. The robbery and concealed identity charges will be served concurrently, the obstruction penalty consecutively.

McInnes, who has a nine-year-old son, showed little emotion during the sentencing, occasionally leaning over to ask questions of his lawyer.

"You are setting a terrible example," Schuler said.

McInnes walked into the gallery January 16, 2003, with a .303 rifle, pointed it at co-owner John Seagrave and demanded money.

The $3,197 that was stolen and then stashed at the Racquet Club has not been recovered.

Seagrave said that "after 19 months, we're really ready to put this to bed. If Mr. McInnes got off or if he were just given a light sentence, that would be like painting a target on our foreheads."

Between 30 and 40 Yellowknife businesses pledged $10,000 for a reward for information leading to the gallery robber's arrest.

The Seagraves will work with Crimestoppers and their lawyer to determine how that reward will be divided.

The names of the two or three potential reward recipients will remain confidential, Seagrave said.

Schuler did not make a recommendation as to whether McInnes would serve his sentence in the NWT or a southern penitentiary.