A group of men will stand trial on charges related to the alleged kidnapping and confinement of a woman in Regina.

A preliminary hearing was held this week for five men — Bronson Chad Gordon, 31, Andrew Michael Bellegarde, 23, Daniel Theodore, 32, Stuart Michael Sabiston, 28, and Tyler Blue Worme, 21 — at the end of which all but Sabiston consented to stand trial on various charges related to the April 2015 allegation.

Sabiston’s matter was set over to next week for argument, following which a judge will decide whether to commit him to stand trial.

Several of the men face additional charges, including assault, weapons charges and breaches, some of which will go to trial while others are expected to be addressed at court in the future.

A date for the trial, to be held before a Queen’s Bench judge sitting without a jury, has not yet been set.

Details of evidence heard and submissions made during the preliminary hearing — which ran Monday and Tuesday at Regina Provincial Court — cannot be reported because of a court-imposed publication ban.

According to information that was previously reported, the charges relate to the alleged kidnapping of a 31-year-old woman on April 22. The Regina Police Service said the incident was reported to have begun at a residence on the 2100 block of Angus Street, continuing on the 4400 block of Pasqua Street before returning to the original location.

Gordon, Bellegarde and Theodore were recently committed to stand trial on first-degree murder charges related to the death, also in April 2015, of 34-year-old Reno Lee. It’s believed Lee died on April 18, although his body was not found until April 30 near Balcarres.

Additional people face charges in connection to the two incidents, but they are not jointly charged with the others and so their matters are expected to be dealt with separately in court. Police have not commented on whether the two incidents are related.

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A 10th man has been charged following a recent covert investigation into a rash of violent offences believed to be related to the drug trade.

Project SHRED led to the seizure of weapons, cash and drugs, and resulted in the Friday arrests of nine men accused of participating in — and in the case of one, instructing the commission of an offence for — a criminal organization.

The men, aged between 18 and 40, appeared in court on Monday.

On Wednesday, a 10th man — 49-year-old Ronald Hodgson — found himself facing charges of participating in the activities of a criminal organization, possession of cocaine and methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking, possession of drug proceeds over $5,000, conspiring to traffic cocaine and meth, conspiring to possess crime proceeds over $5,000, and conspiring to commit robbery with violence. The alleged offences date between March 20 and May 19.

Hodgson was already in custody on previously laid charges of kidnapping, extortion, robbery, assault causing bodily harm and several drug offences.

A bail hearing has been set for June 14.

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The Crown has stayed a hit and run charge related to a 2014 death in Regina.

Richard David Bell, 26, had been appearing at Regina Provincial Court from time to time on the charge, alleging his involvement in the April 25, 2014, death of 28-year-old mother of three, Leanne Manhas.

When reached by phone, the prosecutor in charge of the file, Chris Davison, said he could not comment on the reasons for the Crown’s decision to bring an end to proceedings against Bell. While a stay allows the Crown a year to reinstitute a charge, that step is rarely taken.

According to information released by police at the time of the collision, Manhas had been walking east on Dewdney Avenue and was crossing Lewvan Drive against a red light at about 10:45 p.m. when she was hit by a northbound vehicle that had a green light. Manhas was taken to hospital where she died shortly after.

The driver, alleged to have been Bell, reportedly left the scene. Bell turned himself in to police about 2½ hours later.

Dozens of people got traffic tickets in east Regina after driving by a man holding a cardboard sign. It read “not broke, not hungry, have a great day.”

The kicker: The sign bearer was an undercover police officer.

The Regina Police Service on Wednesday assigned the officer to peer into vehicles at an intersection to spot cellphone use or missing seat belts. When the officer noticed an infraction, he would identify himself as a police officer and inform the driver he or she was about to get a ticket after crossing the intersection and encountering a uniformed colleague.

“You put police officers in a marked car and have them drive down Albert (Street), you see brake lights come on, you see seatbelts get pulled across … A marked car in many ways makes it very tough to spot infractions, or at least tougher,” said Insp. Evan Bray, who is in charge of the traffic safety unit.

Police handed out 40 tickets in an hour and 15 minutes. Bray said it likely would have been many more had they had more than three officers on the job.

Bray said the sign attracted a lot of attention from drivers. The undercover officer would identify himself (he was wearing a badge) and explain the operation if asked.

“He received very positive feedback from most of the public that he was talking to,” said Bray.

The operation was part of regular intersection safety projects the police run throughout the year to spot traffic infractions at crossings during peak hours. This particular method has only been used three times, but police have done similar projects like having a plainclothes officer spotting infractions from a bus bench.

It’s not unique to Regina.

In 2012, the National Post published a piece about “hobo cops” across Canada. It described some of the creative tactics used by police officers, such as misspelled signs, wigs and crutches. Others have disguised themselves as city or construction workers. One even dressed as an Easter bunny over the holiday weekend, the article said.

Bray was careful to point out the Regina officer was not soliciting — it’s illegal to do so from vehicles — and was in plainclothes but not what he would consider posing as a panhandler.

Still, Peter Gilmer of the Regina Anti-Poverty Ministry said, “Given that there’s already enough discriminatory attitudes toward people who are forced to panhandle, I don’t think it’s helpful to have anybody posing as a panhandler.”

Bray said he could spin Gilmer’s comments the other way: That people thinking a panhandler is a police officer might help him or her avoid problems.

Given the effectiveness of the operation, Bray said he can foresee police doing it again in the future.

nlypny@postmedia.com

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Two men from Calgary are facing charges after a large quantity of drugs was reportedly found during a traffic stop in Regina on Wednesday afternoon.

According to information from the Regina Police Service, officers responded shortly after 12:30 p.m. to a complaint about a vehicle driving recklessly in the northwest area of the city. Police were told the vehicle was being driven at a high rate of speed and was weaving in and out of traffic.

Police conducted a traffic stop, during which two men inside the vehicle were arrested.

A search reportedly turned up a significant quantity of drugs: more than three kilograms of marijuana, almost 230 grams of methamphetamine, more than 32.5 grams of heroin and almost 250 grams of cocaine. (Meth is typically sold at one-tenth of a gram, making 230 grams particularly significant.)

The two men arrested — 27-year-old Megesha Abed and 25-year-old Brett Lush — made their first appearances at Regina Provincial Court on Thursday morning, each charged with four counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking. Abed faces an additional charge, alleging he possessed $250 in crime proceeds.

The men presented vastly different pictures upon learning the Crown was opposed to their release, Abed argumentative and Lush emotional.

Lush — who told the court he was just giving a friend a ride to Manitoba for work — ended up getting released later in the day on a number of conditions, including that he return to court on June 28.

Abed was not so lucky, informed he would have to stay in custody until Monday if he wanted help from a lawyer. Abed initially called the delay a “gross injustice” and demanded a lawyer help him on Thursday with a bail hearing, but was told a lawyer would need time to get the necessary information from the Crown and go over his case before a hearing could be held.

Abed eventually agreed to the adjournment.

hpolischuk@postmedia.com

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Police have made an arrest after a 31-year-old man was taken to hospital following a shooting in Regina.

According to police, at approximately 6 p.m. on Wednesday members responded to a call on the 1500 block of Garnet Street for the report of a weapon offence involving a firearm.

The initial investigation revealed that a male was shot outside a residence.

The victim was transported to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Police obtained a search warrant for a residence on Garnet Street where ammunition was recovered. Further investigation led police to to evidence that the ammunition belonged to 46-year-old Charles George Key, which put him in breach of court-ordered conditions.

Key was located about six hours after the incident occurred and was charged with possession of a firearm or ammunition contrary to an order.

He was taken into custody and is to appear in court Friday morning at 9:30 a.m.

Police are continuing to investigate the matter and are asking anyone with information that could be of assistance to call police at 306-777-6500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

The Crown is asking that a man accused of killing his wife last month be allowed no contact with a number of people, including his two children.

Jagdish Singh Tehara, 39, appeared briefly on his second-degree murder charge at Regina Provincial Court on Thursday by closed-circuit television from the Regina Provincial Correctional Centre.

Crown prosecutor Connie Hottinger requested that Judge Barbara Tomkins issue an order that would prevent Tehara from contacting a number of witnesses, including the couple’s two children, aged 10 and four.

When asked why the Crown wanted the non-contact order to apply to the children, Hottinger replied, “They’re witnesses to the murder.”

Tomkins issued a temporary non-contact order, which will be in place until June 15, when the matter returns to court. At that time, a defence lawyer will be able to make submissions on whether or not the order should be made permanent.

Tehara is accused of killing his 38-year-old wife, Sandeep Kaur Tehara, whose body was found at the couple’s Upland Drive home on May 22. Members of the Sikh community who know the couple have told the Leader-Post she was stabbed.

The Regina Police Service previously reported members were sent to the house at 4:23 a.m. to check on the well-being of the residents, though police have not said what led to the “welfare check.”

Jagdish Tehara was arrested shortly after, following a crash between a westbound semi and a small passenger car just west of Balgonie. Jagdish Tehara — reported to be the driver of the car — was unhurt.

The couple’s children are reportedly now being cared for by Regina relatives.

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Two women have become the latest to be charged following a lengthy, covert police investigation into violent, drug-related crime in the city.

Sabiha Christian Bird and Charleene L. McBride had already been facing a number of previously laid charges — some serious — when they became the 11th and 12th people to be landed with charges alleging they participated in the activities of a criminal organization.

Ten men between the ages of 18 and 49 were already facing charges, the result of a public safety initiative by the Regina Police Service dubbed Project SHRED. The two-month investigation led to the seizure of weapons, cash and drugs and numerous charges against those accused.

McBride — already facing charges of extortion, kidnapping, robbery, assault causing bodily harm and possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking — is now saddled with one additional charge, alleging participation in a criminal organization. She was released on a number of strict conditions on Thursday and is to return to court later this month.

Bird’s previous charges alleged extortion, kidnapping, robbery and drug offences, and she now faces the criminal organization charge along with a spate of others, including assault with a weapon, robbery, possession of crime proceeds and possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking. The Crown opposed her release and she returns to court Friday.

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After losing an appeal of his nine-year sentence for a deadly drunk driving crash, Brian Okemahwasin insisted he still needs to set the record straight and may head to a higher court.

“I just took off at the wrong time,” he told the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal on Thursday, describing the crash that claimed the life of an elderly Regina man almost two years ago to the day. “I wasn’t looking for a lesser sentence. I just didn’t want to sound like a monster,” added Okemahwasin.

During his submissions, several times — seemingly struggling for words — Okemahwasin alluded to his treatment and abuse in an Indian residential school as a child.

“I’m not trying to sound like a victim here … Being 10 years old, who do I go to? How do you tell someone that?” he said. “My life was ruined. It was taken … Alcohol was the only ah — ,” he said, his voice trailing off.

On June 8, 2014, Garry Tatham left home early that Sunday morning to go wash his wife’s car. Around 7 a.m., he was stopped at a red light on Albert Street at 6th Avenue North when a Ford F-150 driven by Okemahwasin slammed into the rear of the car. The then 41-year-old Saskatoon man had been spotted driving recklessly on Highway 11 earlier that morning.

Investigators believe Okemahwasin was speeding at 94 km/h — almost twice the speed limit — when he crashed. Tatham, 72, died a the scene. In a victim impact statement last year, Heather, his wife of 37 years, described him as “my very best friend … my lifeline.”

Okemahwasin’s blood-alcohol level was more than 3 1/2 times the legal limit.

In May 2015, Regina Provincial Court Judge Jeff Kalmakoff sentenced Okemahwasin to nine years in prison after he pleaded guilty to impaired and dangerous driving causing death. With credit for time already served, seven years and seven months remained on the sentence.

Okemahwasin, acting without a lawyer, stressed that he remains “very sorry” for the crash and its outcome. “There’s not enough words to express the misery I have inflicted,” he said. “I’m sorry. I’m not proud my life goes on.”

He admitted he rear-ended Tatham’s vehicle and wasn’t trying to justify his actions, but took issue with some of the details of what occurred. 

Crown prosecutor Andrew Davis said Kalmakoff had carefully considered the offender’s background, “but his moral culpability remained very high.” He said Okemahwasin had 25 years of alcohol-fuelled involvment in the criminal justice system and had failed to engage meaningfully in his own rehabilitation.

Okemahwasin said he tried “dry-out centres.”

“People say that I never tried to help myself. That’s their point of view,” he said. “I’ve tried to help myself many times.”

“If it wasn’t for residential school and alcohol, I think my character would be a whole lot different,” he said.

Calling the offences “very serious,” Chief Justice Robert Richards, Georgina Jackson and Maurice Herauf unanimously rejected Okemahwasin’s sentence appeal.

“We’ve looked at (Kalmakoff’s) reasons carefully. He did a very thorough job of looking at the factors that were relevant to an appropriate sentence, including the difficult circumstances involved in your … personal, First Nations background. He also took into account the unfortunate reality, sir, that you’ve been convicted of 200 offences (including) four drinking and driving offences and two drive while disqualified offences,” he said. “We’re simply not persuaded that was an unfit sentence.” 

After the court’s decision, Okemahwasin asked about going to the Supreme Court, reiterating that his goal is to make clear the circumstances of the crash as he recalls them — that he wasn’t speeding, that traffic was backed up. 

In sentencing submissions last year, the prosecutor said the crash was so severe, the impact thrust the rear end of the car so far forward, it touched the front seat, where Tatham sat.

bpacholik@postmedia.com

A 17-year-old boy is facing charges after allegedly breaking into the new Mosaic Stadium and causing more than $10,000 in damage.

Regina police were dispatched to the still-under-construction stadium at 12:39 a.m. Friday. Police were informed that a person was inside the stadium causing damage and arrived to find a suspect.

According to the RPS, the suspect did not seem to target any particular part of the stadium, but was damaging “anything he could get his hands on.”

The boy is charged with breaking and entering with intent to commit mischief over $5,000, two charges of assaulting a peace officer and breach of an undertaking.

The accused cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

He made his first appearance in Youth Court on the charges Friday.

The City of Regina referred questions about what was damaged and who would be on the hook for costs to PCL Construction, which is leading the stadium build. PCL district manager Sean Hamelin did not return messages left seeking comment. 

The $278-million stadium is set to open in time for the 2017 CFL season. The facility is set to be “substantially complete” by the fall with test events set to take place in October.

In a victim impact statement filed with the court, Rodney Dale Sanheim’s daughter recounted how she was unable to share with her dad the happy news she was pregnant with his first grandson.

“We were excited to tell someone, and I would have picked up the phone to tell my dad but I can’t,” Melissa Holmes wrote of her father, a man she described as “always positive about life.”

Sanheim was the caretaker of a building on the 2900 block of Victoria Avenue when, on the morning of March 10, 2013, the 57-year-old joined the building’s owner in an attempt to deal with a situation there.

Ronald James Ozipko had attacked one of his neighbours with a knife, cutting the man’s arm before the man managed to shut the door against his assailant. Then, as Ozipko encountered the owner and caretaker in a stairwell, he lashed out again.

The building owner suffered a sprained ankle, bumps and bruises but managed to get away and barricade himself into a room. Sanheim, stabbed once in the neck, died from blood loss, his carotid artery severed.

Ozipko was taken into custody by police minutes later and soon after provided an account — first to police and later to a forensic psychiatrist — that has now led to his being found not criminally responsible for one count of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.

In late April, Crown and defence counsel asked Justice Lian Schwann to find Ozipko not criminally responsible, referencing a report and testimony from psychiatrist Dr. Shabehram Lohrasbe, who diagnosed the 46-year-old man with schizotypal personality disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. Lohrasbe told the court Ozipko had spent parts of the night of March 9 and the morning of March 10 in a state of psychosis, convinced his suite had been overtaken by evil spirits.

He spent a sleepless night drinking coffee, convinced he’d seen objects moving and the image of Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre appearing on his wall, believing the evil that had overrun his home was the direct result of a decision he made as a youth not to attend a Christian school.

Through his lawyer, Andrew Hitchcock, Ozipko admitted to the attacks, though Hitchcock argued his client’s mental disorder rendered him incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of his actions or understanding it was wrong.

Co-Crown counsel Loreley Berra and Norma Quaroni joined Hitchcock in that assessment, jointly asking Schwann to find Ozipko not criminally responsible and to send him to the Saskatchewan Hospital in North Battleford for treatment. Having considered the matter, Schwann followed both recommendations Friday.

Calling Ozipko’s actions that morning “unprovoked, unexpected and inexplicable,” Schwann agreed Ozipko was suffering from an acute psychotic episode that, on a balance of probabilities, “deprived him of the capacity to make a rational choice about whether his actions were right or wrong” and the ability to appreciate the nature and consequences of his actions.

Because Ozipko has not yet been treated and is still considered a significant risk to public safety, the judge agreed he needs to be detained at the Saskatchewan Hospital.

Ozipko’s case will be reviewed in 90 days by the Saskatchewan Review Board and, after that, on a yearly basis.

Gus and Eva Sanheim — Rodney’s brother and sister-in-law — did not wish to comment after court, but provided a victim impact statement in which they recalled having to break the news to Rodney’s mother and daughter. Already ill, Gus and Rodney’s mother passed away shortly after learning of her son’s death.

The couple’s concerns are now with the future, as to what risk Ozipko might pose if and when he is eventually deemed fit to return to the community.

“We don’t want the accused to be out on the street and perhaps harm or kill someone else …,” they wrote. “If we don’t know what caused him to do what he did, then how do we prevent it from happening again?”

While Ozipko did not speak on his own behalf on Friday, Hitchcock said his client feels a “deep and tremendous regret” for what happened.

“He is very aware of the loss that he has caused, and it is something that he’ll live with for the rest of his life,” Hitchcock said.

hpolischuk@postmedia.com

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Delusional and high on pot, Austin Donavon Travis Terry saw a pedestrian crossing the street as an opportunity to teach his passenger “not to fear death.”

When asked if he could have swerved his SUV to miss 65-year-old David Phillips, Terry told Regina police: “Yes I could have. But I made the decision I needed to show the world my dark side.”

The “dark side” of mental illness was something familiar to Terry, as well as his victim. Described in court as indigent man with few possessions, Phillips, who took medication for a mental illness, had lived for a decade at the Salvation Army Waterston Centre, about 1 1/2 blocks away from where he was struck down last summer.

“It’s a sad, tragic event,” Regina Provincial Court Judge Clifford Toth said at the start of Friday’s proceedings.

Originally charged with second-degree murder, Terry, 21, pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Terry’s mental state fell short of the strict legal definition for insanity — but his “diminished capacity” was sufficient to reduce the charge, court heard.

Toth agreed to the sentence recommended by the Crown and defence — five more years in prison on top of the time served since Terry’s arrest, or the equivalent of a six-year, four-month sentence.

“You need to understand the significance of what has happened. A man’s life has been taken for no reason,” Toth told Terry. “You were in a manic state … You also allowed yourself to deteriorate to this state.” In keeping with the agreement by the lawyers, Toth imposed a 10-year firearms prohibition, but did not make a driving prohibition.

Phillips was lawfully crossing to the south side of Saskatchewan Drive at Halifax Street around 11:15 a.m. on July 24. The eastbound traffic stopped, but he was hit by a westbound Santa Fe that then fled. A police officer nearby heard the crash and found Phillips on the ground. He uttered his name, “Salvation Army,” and fell unconscious. Although rushed into surgery, he succumbed to his severe injuries. 

“The Santa Fe did not brake or attempt to avoid him,” Crown prosecutor Chris Davison said. A collision reconstructionist found the SUV had time to stop.

Terry’s father called 9-1-1 two hours later to report that his son had just called and said he hit someone. He explained his son was bipolar and in a manic state. Upon arrest, Terry admitted he was also high on pot and speeding at 80 km/h. After the collision, he dropped off his passenger and took the vehicle through a car wash to “cleanse himself of sin.”

He admitted he could have reacted in time, but his “devil side” came out. Psychiatric reports stated he suffers from grandiose and religious delusions and self-medicates his bipolar disorder with pot and cocaine. Psychiatrists found he was still criminally responsible despite his illness.

Defence lawyer Merv Nidesh said an independent witness confirmed Terry was in a poor mental state prior to the “unfortunate incident.” He said Terry has the support of family members who are very aware of his long-term needs. It’s hoped Terry will get the professional help he needs while incarcerated and after his release, Nidesh added.

Outside of court as family members of both the offender and victim met briefly, mention was made of the case being a tragedy for all concerned.

Phillips’ family declined to comment and did not submit a victim impact statement.

In a memorial erected after the collision, Phillips’ friends from Salvation Army remembered his keen mind for sports stats, his love of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Detroit Red Wings, and his collection of sports memorabilia and souvenirs that filled his room. 

“He was very well liked by everyone who knew him,” they wrote above his photo. “Rest in peace dear friend.”

bpacholik@postmedia.com

A new financial scam is making the rounds in Saskatchewan, perpetrated by individuals claiming to work for an agency that actually helps combat fraud.

The Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority (FCAA) of Saskatchewan issued a warning this week alerting the public to the scheme that attempts to solicit financial information from unsuspecting victims.

The scammers claim to represent the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. Its role is actually to safeguard the financial system from illicit use, combat money laundering and promote national security.

Ken Foster, an FCAA investigator, said the authority heard last month from a Saskatchewan resident who had been contacted by a person claiming to be a FinCEN employee.

“We’re hoping that the alert will cause them to cease making these type of calls to Saskatchewan residents,” he said in an interview.

The FCAA alert says an individual has been calling or emailing Saskatchewan residents and seeking personal and financial information to purportedly help with FinCEN’s investigation of companies for fraud relating to the sale of securities to Saskatchewan residents. Ironically, the address used by the scammer is stopfraud@fincen.info.

FinCEN does not send unsolicited requests nor does it seek personal or financial information from members of the public. FinCEN deals exclusively with financial institutions and does not investigate frauds directly.

Foster said the FCAA is unaware of any Saskatchewan residents who have been taken in by the scam. It’s not the first time someone has contacted residents and falsely claimed to be with a financial regulator, but this is the first time the scammers have identified themselves with FinCEN.

“It’s always a concern for us when people are holding themselves out to be regulators,” said Foster.

This is one of several scams that have been circulating in Saskatchewan in recent months in which the perpetrators lend themselves legitimacy by claiming to be from prominent agencies, including the Canada Revenue Agency and even Premier Brad Wall’s office.

 The FCAA advises that anyone in Saskatchewan contacted by someone claiming to represent FinCEN contact the authority’s securities division at 306-787-5936.

A report of possible gunshots in Regina early Sunday morning sparked the deployment of the Special Weapons and Tactics team.

According to Regina police, officers were dispatched shortly after 4 a.m. to the 1200 block of Cameron Street for reports of loud bangs, possibly gunshots. Investigation led police to a residence on that block.

But the occupants were “unco-operative with police,” stated a news release.

As a result, the crisis negotiator and SWAT teams were called in to assist.

All the occupants were safely taken into custody for further investigation. Police said Sunday that charges are pending once the investigation concludes.

Police finished at the scene around 9 a.m.

No further information was released.

Regina police are alerting the public to an incident in which a man tried to get a teenage girl into his vehicle in the city’s southeast.

The incident occurred around 3 p.m. Saturday in the 1700 block of Truesdale Drive. A 15 year-old girl was walking on the sidewalk when a man driving a dirty, white van pulled up beside her and offered her a ride home.

The girl declined, but the driver continued to ask her if she wanted a ride. The incident ended when the girl walked away, and the man drove into the area of Windsor Park.

The suspect is described as a black man, approximately 40 years old, and bald. He was driving a newer model white van.

Anyone with information that could assist in the investigation is asked to contact the Regina Police Service at 306-777-6500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

A contentious chapter in the history of the First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv) has ended after a decade with a recent ruling by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.

Wes Stevenson, FNUniv’s former vice-president of finance and administration, has lost an appeal of his wrongful dismissal lawsuit. A university employee for more than two decades, he was fired in 2005 amid allegations of misspending based largely on travel expenses. A preliminary audit flagged trips to such varied locales as Montana, Halifax, Antigua, St. Maarten, Mexico, Britain, and the Orkney Islands in Scotland.

The appeal was heard Friday, nearly five years ago to the day since Stevenson pleaded guilty to defrauding the federal government of $15,000 over the Scotland trip, part of a cultural exchange. He received a conditional sentence and repaid the money. But he immediately told reporters he “didn’t, in my heart, feel I had defrauded anybody.” An agreed statement of facts said he used excess federal funds for purposes other than the trip — including paying himself a $7,200 “co-ordinator’s fee.”

Stevenson, who wasn’t present Friday, originally sued FNUniv in 2006, and lost last year when a Court of Queen’s Bench judge ruled in favour of the university. Stevenson appealed — and has now lost again.

In arguments during Friday’s appeal hearing, FNUniv lawyer Philip Gallet said few, if any, of the people involved still remain at the university. “We wanted to put this matter behind us,” he said.

At issue was a clause in Stevenson’s contract, allowing termination for cause if he committed “a wilful criminal act against the university” or “gross negligence of duty.” He maintained neither condition had been met.  

But appeal court Justices Georgina Jackson, Ralph Ottenbreit and Jacelyn Ryan-Froslie unanimously found no error by the trial judge.

“The trial judge’s decision was based primarily on his finding that Mr. Stevenson was grossly negligent with respect to his duties. And in our view this appeal can be determined on that front alone,” Ryan-Froslie said in delivering the decision. “Mr. Stevenson’s termination was for cause,” she added.

Stevenson’s dismissal marked the start of further firings and departures at FNUniv as allegations swirled of “political interference” by the then-Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. A provincial report in 2008, as a condition for emergency funding, called for “fundamental changes,” which followed. 

On appeal, Stevenson’s lawyer Jason Clayards contended Queen’s Bench Justice Brian Barrington-Foote had failed to consider context in interpreting the contract (including the former president’s contrary understanding of it), and misinterpreted the terms.

Clayards argued the fraud conviction was against the government, not the university, so didn’t apply, and gross negligence of duty couldn’t encompass the fraud since that was covered in the first term. “The clause doesn’t speak to misconduct,” he added.

Gallet vehemently disagreed, saying Stevenson was in a senior position at a major public institution. “That man was convicted of fraud and sentenced,” he said.

“This is a man that said under oath it was OK to lie to the federal government of Canada,” Gallet added. The Queen’s Bench decision noted that when Stevenson was asked about misleading the federal government to get the $15,000 he said, “well, the means justified the end.”

In determining gross negligence, Barrington-Foote had found “Stevenson repeatedly breached his duties.” His decision notes the London trip wasn’t properly authorized, and there’s no evidence it was for the purpose Stevenson suggested or that a lawyer who joined him at FNUniv expense had any role to play; Stevenson acted in a “fashion calculated” to mislead his employer; a Halifax trip was also unauthorized and the result of a “false purchase order” for a non-existent conference; he authorized Caribbean vacations for two staff on the university’s dime; and there wasn’t any evidence his own Antigua and St. Maarten trips would have been approved. The judge concluded he didn’t have to rely on the fraud conviction alone to find Stevenson was terminated with cause since “he also repeatedly breached a policy designed to prevent unauthorized or unnecessary travel.”

As part of Stevenson’s appeal, Clayards argued Stevenson was entitled to about $20,000 in vacation pay and sick leave benefits. Barrington-Foote’s judgment was silent on the issue.

Ryan-Froslie said court rules allow a judgment to be corrected if something is overlooked, but Stevenson never raised it last year. Given the passage of time, the amount involved, and possibility FNUniv could resurrect a counterclaim against Stevenson for a similar amount owed the university — dropped when it won the civil suit — the appeal court also dismissed that issue.

The court awarded FNUniv its costs in responding to the appeal.

bpacholik@postmedia.com

Unrepentant and still contesting his conviction, former Regina businessman-fraudster Steven Vincent Weeres is now a parolee, mere months into a lengthy prison sentence.

As a non-violent offender serving his first federal term behind bars, Weeres, 57, qualified for Accelerated Parole Review and is now out after seven months.

“The basic difference is that they’re eligible for parole at one-sixth of their sentence, rather than one-third,” Parole Board of Canada spokesman Patrick Storey explained. (The federal government ended the program in 2011, but courts have since ruled the change doesn’t apply retroactively to those, like Weeres, whose crimes pre-date the revamped law.)

“You preyed on unsuspecting individuals and bilked them of thousands of dollars. You impacted your victims’ financial well being, emotional well being and their credit ratings,” states his recent parole decision. “However, the board finds that you do not have a significant history of violence, nor have you been involved in the use of weapons. There is no indication that you have exhibited a pattern of violent behaviour, or that you have risk factors that would likely lead you to commit an offence involving violence,” it continues.

The board granted Weeres day and full parole on May 6. The Leader-Post has learned he’s residing in a B.C. halfway house.

Contacted by phone Saturday, Weeres said his appeal of conviction for fraud and money laundering “is still moving foward.” He never appealed sentence. No date for the appeal has been set.

Among the board’s release conditions was one forbidding self-employment, which didn’t sit well with Weeres, who registered a written objection.

“It is clear that you have been self-employed for much of your life. It is also clear that you are unable or unwilling to acknowledge that you have committed criminal acts and you show very little empathy for the victims or your actions,” states the decision.

Asked about his plans now that he’s free, Weeres said he “obviously has to abide by the restrictions on parole.” After mentioning how bad publicity has hampered doing anything further with his Master Keys to Success investment, Weeres declined further comment.

“Right now I’m not doing any business at all,” he added.

After convicting Weeres following a lengthy trial, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Janet McMurtry sentenced him on Oct. 6 to four years in prison for fraud, an additional year for money laundering and a possible two further years in custody if he fails to pay a $200,000 fine in lieu of forfeiture. The total was reduced by 505 days for time already served, leaving three years, seven months and 13 days plus the possible two extra years if the fine goes unpaid for two years.

He was also ordered to pay $482,690 in victim restitution — although McMurtry conceded his assets may be tough to trace. She noted a $500,000 profit is still unaccounted for from the sale of a B.C. hotel bought with Saskatchewan investors money. Weeres, representing himself without a lawyer, told the court he had no assets but had plans for a new business — one the prosecutor said was then the subject of outstanding charges in B.C.

Between January 2003 and December 2005, investors poured in nearly $900,000 into Master Keys to Success. The judge found much of investors’ money was spent on vacations, rent for a luxurious beachfront home on Vancouver Island, dining out, drinking and gambling.

The parole decision notes Weeres has a lengthy history of offending, including convictions for fraud, impaired driving and theft.

Storey said for regular parole, the board considers if an inmate poses an undue risk of any offending, but for accelerated parole, focuses on the potential for violent offending.

At the time of his parole hearing, the board noted Weeres had outstanding charges for assault and fail to appear from 2009 — for allegedly pushing a security guard — as well as two outstanding charges for fraud exceeding $5,000. The current status of the charges was unavailable.

The board imposed several release conditions: That he stay away from booze; provide documented financial information to his parole supervisor; not be in a position of responsibility for the management of finances or investments for any individual, charity, business or institution; and not be self-employed or own or operate a business.

“Having the type of employment you engage in restricted and your finances monitored will help to manage your risk to re-offend,” the board wrote.

“Your offences are serious in nature,” the decision adds, “and there is a need to be vigilant in monitoring your risk factors.”

bpacholik@postmedia.com

The Crown has stayed a sexual assault charge related to a February 2015 accusation against Kenton Arnold Desjarlais — but that still leaves two unrelated sex assault allegations before the court.

Desjarlais, 25, appeared at Regina Provincial Court on Monday morning, the day set for his preliminary hearing on an allegation from Feb. 9, 2015 — the charge that ended up being stayed. Prosecutor Chris White did not provide reasons in court.

A second charge slated for preliminary hearing on the same date, alleging a sexual assault on Jan. 9, 2015, also did not proceed to hearing on Monday because Desjarlais consented to committal to stand trial at Court of Queen’s Bench. He previously elected to have his trial before a judge sitting without a jury. A trial date has not yet been set.

A third charge — alleging an aggravated sexual assault on May 16, 2015 — is slated for preliminary hearing on Oct. 12 and 17.

Preliminary hearings are held to determine whether the Crown has sufficient evidence to take a case to trial.

According to information that was previously released by the Regina Police Service, the January and February allegations relate to complaints from two females who said they were assaulted in separate Regina businesses.

The January charge alleges Desjarlais grabbed the crotch area of a 45-year-old female customer. The now-stayed February charge alleged Desjarlais pinched a female employee’s buttocks.

In both cases, the women told police they did not know their assailant.

Another seemingly random assault was reported on the May date, alleging a man on a bicycle approached a 28-year-old woman in a downtown alley, choked her into unconsciousness and sexually assaulted her.

Desjarlais pleaded guilty on Monday to several unrelated theft and mischief offences for which he received a sentence of 12 months time served. He is still in custody on his remaining charges.

hpolischuk@postmedia.com

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A courier hired to move 30 kilos of cocaine — one load of some 1.3 tonnes a drug shipping network moved through Saskatchewan — is now feeling the weight of a hefty prison term.

A first-time convicted offender, Ronald Charles Learning was sentenced Monday to nine years in prison for possession for the purpose of trafficking. With credit for time already served, eight years, 204 days remain, plus an additional 30 days for breaching release conditions.

“Mr. Learning, you’re serving a significant period of incarceration,” Regina Provincial Court Judge Marylynne Beaton said. Peering through the glass of the prisoner’s dock, the 33-year-old man originally from Golden, B.C., simply nodded.

“He was not acting on his own, but rather was part of a larger criminal organization,” Beaton noted.

Ronald Charles Learning of Golden, B.C., is arrested by the Regina Integrated Drug Unit in Salmon Arm, B.C., in October 2011.

Learning is the last of six men — busted in Canada and the U.S. — sentenced for their role in the mega-smuggling ring that moved cocaine from California to B.C. via the remote Saskatchewan-Montana border. As Beaton summarized, between January 2010 and October 2011, the group was responsible for importing 16, multi-million-dollar cocaine shipments. In turn, the group exported 790,000 ecstasy pills south.

The “lead player” was Brock Ernest Palfrey, a young Vernon, B.C., man sentenced in 2012 to 18 years in prison. His key couriers were William Bruce Larsen and Troy Ernest Swanson, who received prison sentences of 12 and 11 years, respectively, after moving multiple loads. Learning was the only one to fight his charges.

Known as Project Faril in Canada, the international investigation led by the Regina Integrated Drug Unit (RIDU) was the largest drug smuggling bust in Saskatchewan.

Members of the Regina Integrated Drug Unit reveal a hidden compartment while investigating van Ronald Charles Learning was driving.

Learning moved the last load on Oct. 1, 2011. Police expected Larsen would be driving the Windstar minivan with the hidden compartments, but Learning was a last-minute replacement. Near the border south of Val Marie, Learning met another driver, who was to hand over the 30 cocaine bricks — worth between $1.2 million and $2.3 million — in exchange for 10 bags of pills and $10,000 cash.

What Learning didn’t know was that the man he met was by then working with the police and that the real cocaine had mostly been swapped for fake stuff. The man had originally been hired by Palfrey to be his U.S. driver, but agreed to help police after he was caught by U.S. Homeland Security.

A map found by RCMP in a van following Ronald Charles Learning’s arrest in Salmon Arm, B.C. on Oct. 1, 2011.

The agent, who can’t be named by court order, testified last year that Learning got lost on the dark, prairie backroads trying to make the late-night rendezvous with only a “weird little piece of map” to guide him. Exchanging texts and calls on what Learning believed were secure cellphones, the agent, driving a quad, eventually found Learning and brought him to the exchange point in an abandoned farmyard. Surveillance officers watched in the darkness.

Learning nearly ran out of gas looking for a service station open in the middle of the night, but eventually undercover officers followed the load all the way to Salmon Arm, B.C., where Learning was arrested. 

In sentencing submissions last month, Crown prosecutor Doug Curliss sought 12 years, arguing Learning was clearly an experienced, “trusted courier,” given the quantity and value of the drugs.

Defence lawyer Glenn Verdurmen had countered with five to seven years for a man with no previous convictions and a supportive family. He described Learning as “an amateur,” a substitute driver.

“Mr. Learning’s degree of responsibility for this serious offence is high,” said Beaton, referencing his role as a trusted courier, moving a large amount of “a highly, addictive drug,” in a modified vehicle.

The Crown intends to seek forfeiture of the van with the hidden compartments. Police have so far been unable to find its owner, court heard.

Learning’s trip through the legal system isn’t quite over. He still faces charges in B.C. stemming from last year’s seizure of what RCMP called “a large quantity of heroin” from Thailand and several handguns.

bpacholik@postmedia.com

The Regina Police Service is looking for information from the public after a woman was allegedly pulled into a vehicle and sexually assaulted by three men.

Police were originally called to the intersection of 6th Avenue and Garnet Street at 6:45 a.m. Saturday where they found a semi-conscious woman. She was transported to hospital with no-life-threatening injuries.

The woman later told police she had been walking southbound on Athol Street near 3rd Avenue shortly after 1 a.m. when a silver four-door car occupied by three men pulled alongside her. The woman was pulled inside, driven to an unknown location and sexually assaulted.

All three suspects were described by Regina police as East Indian and in their early 30s.

The first had a thin beard, was 5-foot-8 or 5-foot-9, with a thick build and was wearing a grey silk workout shirt, blue jeans and a grey belt.

The second wore a white shirt, blue and white shorts and had joined eyebrows. The third was described as skinny, about 5-foot-4 and in a black shirt.

The investigation is continuing. Anyone who has information is asked to contact the Regina police at 306-777-6500 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.