As more lies, falsehoods and half-truths emerged around him, a former St. Albert man who defrauded the provincial government of more than $600,000 was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison yesterday.
Lloyd George Carr, a former executive director with AADAC, received the sentence for a single count of fraud that cost the provincial government $634,250. After he funnelled the money through several legitimate organizations, Carr himself pocketed $481,413.
Handing down her sentence, Justice Mary Moreau said Carr had betrayed the public's trust.
"Mr. Carr was a senior official in the Alberta public service and breached the trust that came with his position."
She said there was a strong chance Carr could re-offend if the message about his behaviour wasn't driven home because he had taken so long to admit his deceptions.
"I am of the view that there is a substantial risk of re-offence and that the risk relates to the possibility of similar financial crimes," she said." He did not disclose the offence until he was caught."
Carr pleaded guilty in February and the court heard sentencing submissions on Monday, with Moreau holding off her decision until yesterday. During that break, new allegations came forward showing Carr had misrepresented what he had been doing in the interim.
On Monday, Carr's lawyer Daryl Royer told the court Carr had been working as a painter and supporting his family in Swan River, Man.
After reading news reports, Carr's actual employers came forward and revealed he had in fact been working as a mental health clinician in Flin Flon, Man.
Carr's employer is the NOR-MAN regional health authority and in court Friday Crown prosecutor Greg Lepp revealed Carr had submitted to the organization a phony bachelor's degree from the University of Calgary to obtain the job, the same degree he first presented to AADAC to obtain his original job.
Carr had been renting an apartment in Flin Flon from a co-worker and Lepp said Carr had told his landlord he had been passing blood and was diagnosed with bowel cancer. Carr disputed exactly what he had said to the landlord, but admitted Friday he had submitted a forged doctor's note to his employer to obtain medical leave starting the day he was originally to have been sentenced.
Carr admitted the note was a fake but said he still believes he might have bowel cancer, though that diagnosis cannot be confirmed.
Lepp said, while Carr cannot be sentenced on the new allegations, he encouraged Moreau to take them into account as clear indications that Carr was not turning his life around and was continuing his fraudulent ways.
"There was an attempted fraud perpetrated on us as well and to be quite frank we were almost taken."
Lepp said if someone in Flin Flon hadn't seen the media reports or the sentencing had gone ahead on Monday, Carr's latest deception would not have come out. He said Carr had gone to great lengths to hide what was really going on, but his lies had come unravelled.
"In the Crown's submission Mr. Carr is a leopard that has not changed his spots," he said. "On Monday he attempted to put make-up on these spots, but that make-up has come off."
Moreau said she took those actions into account as reflections on Carr's character, but still had to keep the sentence reflective of what he actually did.
"Care must be taken not to increase the sentence beyond what would be considered reasonable for that offence," she said. "The evidence of Mr. Carr's conduct subsequent to his arrest is evidence of his character and a lack of remorse."
Carr's lawyer has earlier presented him as a gambling addict, but Moreau said that, given he had sought no counselling and unlike most gambling addicts had not ruined his own finances, she did not believe that was true.
Before sentence was passed, Carr again apologized to the court and said he was truly sorry.
"I stand by my words on Monday," he said. "I am still remorseful for what happened."
Carr was arrested walking into the court Friday on charges of breaching his bail conditions for failing to keep the peace and be of good behaviour.
Fraudulent contracts
The fraud first came to light in 2006 when Carr was an executive director with the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission, (AADAC).
In five separate contracts over a two-and-a-half year period, Carr used his position with AADAC to promote contracts with various outside agencies related to anti-smoking campaigns.
In one contract with Action on Smoking and Health and four with The Lung Association he passed money through them and then back to himself posing as a public relation firm, but collected all the money and did no work. The contracts gradually escalated from $10,000 to as much as $225,000 on the last before he was caught.
