Alcohol and a firearm proved to be a troubling mix for a St. Albert man who will not spend the next two years on probation.
Matthew Cholewa pleaded guilty to a single count of careless use of a firearm and two charges under the provincial Wildlife Act. The charges under the Wildlife Act included one count of hunting outside of season and another of trespassing and combined, they netted him $5,000 in fines.
Both of the incidents happened on Nov. 24 last year. Morinville RCMP received a complaint from the public about someone hunting in a forested area near Villeneuve.
Later that day, Cholewa invited friends over to the residence and told them he had been hunting and killed a deer outside of the season.
Cholewa was agitated and intoxicated and, while talking with his friends, he ran out of the house and grabbed a rifle from his truck.
He chambered a round in the weapon and walked around the house with it, pushing one friend who tried to take the weapon away.
Crown prosecutor Scott Pittman did note that at no point did Cholewa threaten anyone with the weapon or point the weapon at anyone.
Cholewa’s defence lawyer Ravi Prithipaul said his client had taken alcohol counselling and other programs since the incident.
“All of the significant steps Mr. Cholewa has taken have been on his own initiative.”
Cholewa apologized to the court, his family and the three friends who were in attendance.
The probationary term will require him to continue with the counselling, abstain from alcohol and not to possess any firearms for two years.
The Wildlife Act charges also mean he will not allowed to hunt for at least two years.
A woman caught refunding at least $9,000 to herself will have to spend the next three years on probation paying it back.
Serena Sherman pleaded guilty to a single count of fraud Monday for the theft from Glamour Secrets, a hair salon in St. Albert Centre where she was an employee.
The fraud took place in small transactions over the course of 18 months, between Jan. 12, 2009, and Sept. 16, 2010. The manager of the store, who noticed the unusually high number of returns, checked the store’s video cameras.
Over the three-year probationary term, Sherman will have to attend any court-ordered counselling and repay the funds, as well as perform 50 hours of community service.
