Possession of property obtained by crime with a value over $5,000 netted Chad Wayne Laviolette, 43, of Estevan a six-month conditional sentence order and an additional six months probation, along with a total of $2,400 in restitution orders.
Laviolette, who is a foreman with an oil patch construction company, represented himself. He pleaded guilty on May 7. Judge Lane Wiegers ordered a pre-sentence report prior to sentencing, which took place on Monday in Estevan Provincial Court.
Having read the pre-sentence report, Wiegers noted he had a concern with the mental element of the crime with respect to Laviolette. Holding up his own glass of water, the judge noted that one can know the glass was stolen, or, in the case of willful blindness, he can suspect it was stolen, and take it anyway.
“It’s got value, obviously. That’s why you took it. Is that the situation you were in?” he asked, referring to willful blindness.
“Yes,” Laviolette said.
Laviolette’s prior record of property offences was admitted, and the judge noted he has had a clear record for the last 12 years. He gave credit for the guilty plea and for the 12 years of being clear.
Crown prosecutor Chris White said that on March 3, around 7 p.m., Laviolette entered a site near Brent Gedak Welding and took 1,000 pounds of stainless steel pipe. On March 5, he took it into Regens Metals in Bienfait, and sold it for $615.50. It had a retail value of $16,000, and was to have been picked up by the client that week. It had been custom ordered for the client.
Brent Gedak, who owns Brent Gedak Welding with his wife, read his victim impact statement to the judge, as well as some more recent developments since it was written two months ago.
“I spent two full days trying to find out where my stuff went,” Gedak told the judge as he stood at the bar of the court, with Laviolette three metres to his left. This included reviewing video cameras and searching around for it.
“When the stuff went missing, I panicked,” Gedak said.
He noted the pipe was part of a million dollar project, and there was no way to make his deadline without those pieces that were taken. He was not able to eat or sleep and lost 10 pounds as a result. There was anxiety in the household, as his wife is his business partner.
New pipe was about to be ordered, but thankfully, the stolen pipe was found before it was destroyed at the scrap dealer.
Gedak noted that something like $2,500 of effort was expended in his efforts. He added that two years before, he had a similar theft.
Gedak also pointed out his company had worked hard for that work the pipe was destined for. The property it was sitting on was land that he was renting.
“It wasn’t a field,” he said, adding the pipe in question was sitting beside a quarter million dollars of other pipe nearby, some of which was on a trailer.
This was in reference to Laviolette’s assertion before the court on May 7 that, “I came across the metal, not in anyone’s yard. It was in an open field.”
Gedak provided photographs to the Estevan Mercury showing the pipe spools the day before it was stolen. That pipe was propped up on plastic pipeline cones and adjacent to much larger pieces, placed on pipe racks and on a gooseneck trailer.
White asked for a six-month conditional sentence order and $2,400 in restitution, calling it a “fairly conservative request.” He also asked for a no-contact order and 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.
When Wiegers turned to Lavioette to ask for his side of things, Laviolette said, “I’d be willing to agree,” but then said, “There was no trailers or nothing.”
“I’ve also lost sleep over this and thousands of dollars of work.”
Wiegers said, “It’s pretty clear to me Mr. Gedak has suffered considerable stress.”
Noting that a conditional sentence order is considered a prison sentence served in the community, he said that White’s sentence suggestion was fair.
Wiegers sentenced Laviolette to a six-month conditional sentence order with standard conditions like keep the peace, be of good behaviour, not consume alcohol or non-prescription drugs, and not attend places like bars that sell beverage alcohol. He also gave him the curfew White requested, along with the no contact order with Brent Gedak.
But when it came to the restitution order, Laviolette said, “I request at least a year.”
He noted that some weeks are good, and some weeks it’s hard to make your truck payments. When the judge asked if he was working now, Laviolette said he was.
Wiegers then ordered him to pay $1,200 to the court in trust of Brent Gedak Welding, and added an additional six-month probation order on top of that, with an order to pay the further $1,200 within that time. He also has 12 months to pay a $200 victim surcharge.
Outside of court, Gedak said, “I didn’t cause this.”
He added, “I’m out a lot more than $2,400, but I’m not asking for it.”
He also questioned Laviolette’s protestations earlier that he didn’t know what it was. Gedak said simply, “He works in the oil patch.”
