A man and a woman stood shoulder to shoulder in a closed-circuit television (CCTV) room at the Edmonton Remand Centre (ERC) Monday, sobbing and pleading with a St. Albert court judge for a more lenient sentence.
The pair – Devon Ronald Cissell and Tracey Marie Cheesman – were accused of riding in a stolen vehicle earlier this week, which had a pair of bolt cutters and two stolen laptops in the back seat.
Between heaves and wiping away tears, Cissell pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of stolen property and one count of breaching a condition of his recognizance by having contact with Cheesman.
Cheesman followed suit and pleaded guilty to breaching a condition of recognizance by riding in a motor vehicle without permission from the owner and obstructing/resisting a police officer by giving a false name.
Crown prosecutor John Donahoe told the court that on July 27, a plainclothes police officer watched as Cissell, Cheesman and one other man went up to the cash register at the Future Shop in St. Albert to purchase a single chocolate bar.
Acting on his suspicions, the officer followed the three outside as they got into a car, drove the vehicle 100 feet, then parked. Having caught on that they were being followed, all three fled on foot.
Once officers caught up with the group they determined the vehicle in which Cissell was the driver, as well as the two laptops inside, were reported stolen from different locations in the Edmonton area the day before. Cissell told police he had obtained the vehicle from a friend.
All three were taken into custody, but charges against the third man were dropped Monday.
Court learned that 23-year-old Cissell has 52 outstanding charges from Edmonton police. The charges include possession of stolen property, trafficking, break and enter into a motor vehicle, unauthorized use of a firearm and staying at large.
Duty counsel Zane Pocha explained to the court that aside from Cissell’s current convictions, his criminal record is minimal and he has been working to change his life around to get out of the sex trade and drug use.
“He shows obvious remorse and regret,” said Pocha, adding Cissell hopes to keep his bartending job and attend college in the fall to become a child and youth worker.
Pocha told the court 42-year-old Cheesman was at a similar place in life. Having served four years in prison for theft, she was trying to get back on track after the recent birth of her granddaughter.
As they awaited sentencing, Cissell begged Judge Norman Mackie for leniency.
“Please,” he said. “I will lose everything.”
Mackie sentenced Cissell to a total of four months in jail and handed Cheesman 60 days.
Even though taking a spin in a stolen vehicle has netted one Edmonton man jail time, he was thankful for his sentence.
Jacob Michael Sullivan appeared in St. Albert court via CCTV from the remand centre court and pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property and failure to hold a valid driver’s license.
Court heard that, at about 6 a.m. on July 27, St. Albert RCMP were called to investigate a complaint about a suspicious male driving a white Honda Civic. When police caught up with the car at a gas station, a licence plate search indicated the vehicle had been stolen from the Eaux Claires Transit Centre in Edmonton the day before.
The driver – later identified as Sullivan – told the court he had obtained the car from an acquaintance while he was high on crystal meth.
Pocha told the court that the 27-year-old has been working as a swamper and hoped to serve his sentence intermittently in order to keep his job.
“Please, please sir, if I end up going to jail I’m going to fall back into my old ways,” pleaded Sullivan to the judge, folding his hands in prayer. “It’s going to be really bad for me if I go to jail.”
“That’s why it’s called jail,” retorted Mackie.
Mackie handed Sullivan a 90-day jail term to be served intermittently, a $575 fine and six months probation.
“I love you! I mean … I love that,” commented Sullivan.
