Rodney Beatty was handed a maximum two-year less a day conditional sentence order Monday following his guilty plea to theft.
The former Estevan city councillor was facing charges of theft and fraud for his conduct in defrauding Regens Disposal, the local company he worked for as operations manager between November 2008 and his termination in December 2011. After pleading guilty to theft the charge of fraud was stayed by the Crown.
During sentencing in Estevan provincial court April 28, Crown prosecutor Dana Brule detailed the circumstances that led to Beatty stealing nearly $80,000 from the company.
During his time as operations manager, Beatty was involved in finances and implemented the TelPay system so employees could be paid through direct deposit, while also moving the company's accounting over to the QuickBooks system. These changes were welcomed by owners Gene and Margaret Baniulis, who considered Beatty a model employee until they noticed behavioural changes in 2011.
Issues came to light when, in November 2011, the company's credit card had been declined as a result of being over the credit limit. The card statements could not be found at the office when the owners attempted to look into the matter.
"This led the owners to look further into the finances of the company," said Brule.
The initial investigation into the books showed no anomalies, but the Baniulis's obtained banking records relating to certain expenditures and the owners stumbled across discrepancies with the TelPay figures.
They reflected that Beatty had been paying himself twice. Between Jan. 5 and Dec. 5, 2011 he was supposed to be paid $54,433.08, but paid himself $133,782.72, an extra $78,027.25, according to the Crown's figures.
Beatty also used the company credit card to make a down payment of $1,000 on a BMW vehicle he was using for personal use. He never reimbursed the company for those funds and paid for the rest of the vehicle himself.
One further fraudulent transaction was in relation to Rogers Communication as the company was billed for $2,905.82 from Rogers, a company Regens was not doing business with.
"Based on this, the Crown suggests this is a breach of trust situation," said Brule, adding the courts are directed to issue jail sentences in these matters. While a conditional sentence is a jail sentence served in the community, Brule noted that since these offences occurred, the laws have changed and no longer allow conditional sentences as an option to judges.
Beatty was sentenced using the previous legislation, allowing him to avoid jail, but the two year less a day conditional sentence is the maximum under the old rules.
"This is an individual who was responsible for bookkeeping functions as well as management functions of the corporation and was clearly trusted by the owners," said Brule.
The Crown read the victim impact statement to presiding Judge Karl Bazin.
The letter expressed how Beatty had become a trusted friend within the company.
"We feel that Rodney is a professional manipulator and con artist. He has a personality that warrants its way into your heart," and they felt they were targeted by Beatty, whose activity led to some further embarrassment for the company as the Canadian Revenue Agency ordered penalties of about $13,000 as result of some discrepancies.
Beatty's lawyer, Joelle Graham, told the judge her client was very remorseful for his actions and didn't intend to steal from the company until the criminal opportunity arose. She said he intends to write a letter of apology to the complainants but hasn't been able to find the words.
Beatty didn't say anything during the proceedings.
The pre-sentence report prepared for the matter identified Beatty at the lowest end of the range in terms of the risk to reoffend in the community.
Apart from the conditional sentence order, which will require Beatty to observe a curfew in the first six months between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., undergo an assessment and programming directed at gambling addiction, and the completion of 80 community service hours, he is subject to a restitution order to pay back $78,027.25 to the complainant.
The sentence was jointly suggested by the Crown and defence and Bazin accepted the submissions and sentence.
In other court proceedings, Tyler Spencer pleaded not guilty to four charges of impaired driving causing bodily harm. The indictable offences required him to elect the venue for his trial, either in provincial or Queen's Bench court, and through his lawyer he elected a trial at the court of Queen's Bench in Estevan sitting before a judge and jury.
The matter was adjourned until May 12 to set a date for a preliminary inquiry, with the defence hoping to set a time in July.
