SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A 31-year-old man caught with $600 in fake cash and a printer/scanner used to make the counterfeit money, was sentenced to six months in jail in territorial court on Friday.

Albert "Keith" Poitras was caught trying to pay a cabdriver with counterfeit cash on March 17.

Police found he had additional fake money with him and, after obtaining a search warrant, found more in his home.

Poitras pleaded guilty to one count of producing counterfeit money. The Crown stayed one charge of possessing counterfeit money and one count of using counterfeit money as if it were genuine.

"He certainly recognizes what he did was wrong," said Poitras' defence lawyer Peter Fuglsang.

Fuglsang said Poitras had been employed by a construction company for about seven years, but in the winter, during the off-season, he gets laid off until the season picks up again. According to Fuglsang, Poitras wasn't able to find any other work and was desperate for cash. A job he had lined up in Edmonton fell through, he sold his two vehicles but received little cash from them, and finally, in an act of desperation, photocopied some money and tried to pass it off as legitimate cash.

When police arrived at Poitras' house with a search warrant they found a Hewlett-Packard printer and scanner with a $50 bill still inside. They also found more counterfeit money, as well as the original legitimate tender that the fakes were copied from.

Crown prosecutor Andriene Cote said the Bank of Canada, as well as businesses where counterfeit money is used, are the victims of this crime. The Bank of Canada does not reimburse businesses that receive counterfeit bills.

"These types of crimes can hurt the economy," said Cote.

Cote also cited Poitras' nine prior convictions since 2001, four of which were failures to comply with court orders.

Fuglsang said Poitras was trying hard to live on the straight-and-narrow, with the help of his common-law wife, and had recently found religion.

"He tells me he's very embarrassed he must admit this offence to his church group," said Fuglsang.

Poitras had two letters of support from his employer, one from his wife, and one he wrote to the judge himself, which was not read aloud during the proceedings.

Judge Christine Gagnon said there were a few factors to balance in making her decision.

"He made these bills so his culpability is high," she said.

"On the other hand, this was not a large-scale operation. It doesn't make the offence less serious but it does speak to proportionality," said Gagnon.

Gagnon gave Poitras six months in jail minus 64 days already served in custody.