While a current and a former Poundmaker Cree Nation chiefs await their fates in a TLE theft case, so too do six others whose sentencing hearing took place Tuesday in provincial court in North Battleford.
The facts were similar, but in a few cases somewhat different for councillors Colin Favel, former band councillors Bryan Tootoosis and Irene Tootoosis and former TLE trustees Norman Antoine, Burton Baptiste and Hickson Weenie.
All six had earlier pled guilty to theft under $5,000 in connection to payouts of $2,500 paid to each of them on June 26, 2003, but Favel and both Bryan and Irene Tootoosis had also each entered additional guilty pleas to the charge of theft over $5,000 in connection to a separate scheme involving payments of cheques of $10,000 each that were separate from the TLE charges.
Those latter payouts took place July 15, 2003. According to the facts outlined in court by the Crown, it was alleged they received money funnelled through Synergetik2000 Special Projects, Inc.
The Crown noted jail would be an appropriate sentence in this case, but instead of going that far, prosecutor Jacques called for a nine- to 15-month conditional sentence plus a period of probation for both Favel and Bryan Tootoosis. Both individuals have prior criminal records.
A lighter sentence was proposed for Irene Tootoosis, as she had no prior record and had been co-operative and remorseful during the investigation. The Crown called for a suspended sentence in her case, with 15 to 24 months probation.
As for the other three facing the theft under $5,000 charge, the Crown called for a suspended sentences and 15 to 24 months probation for each. Jacques also noted all six agreed they would not sit as a TLE trustee again.
Defence counsel Cara Haaf of the Saskatoon firm Scharfstein Gibbings Walen Fisher, representing those six, asked for much lighter sentences than what the Crown was calling for. For Favel and Bryan Tootoosis, she called for conditional sentences of three to six months. For Norman Antoine and Burton Baptiste she called for a suspended sentence and one year probation, and for Irene Tootoosis and Hickson Weenie she called for conditional discharges followed by probation. The Crown is opposed to conditional discharges in this case, given that the case involves public officials.
The six are also agreeing to full restitution payment. In Weenie's case he had returned the $2,500 to the band with a letter of apology; all others had either paid back restitution or, in two cases, the cheques were waiting to clear.
As with Duane and Ted Antoine, where that restitution money should ultimately go remains an issue. In any event, Judge O'Hanlon has adjourned the sentencing for all eight individuals to Feb. 1 for a final decision.
