St. Albert man charged with manslaughter released on bail
A St. Albert man charged with manslaughter was released on bail Thursday.
On June 9, Trevor Jason Freeman, 42, was granted bail by Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Thomas Rothwell after a previous judge denied Freeman bail back in December 2021.
Freeman, who had been in custody since his arrest on April 2021, was being held for an aggravated assault charge which stemmed from an incident on March 2, 2021, and a manslaughter charge in the shooting death of a Gibbons man, Ryan Moffat, on March 11, 2021.
As reported by The Gazette, on March 11, 2021, Redwater RCMP attended the Redwater hospital after receiving reports that two males had been shot at a Sturgeon County residence
Moffat later succumbed to injuries while the second man recovered.
Freeman has two trial dates scheduled. The trial date for the aggravated assault charge is set for November. The trial date for the manslaughter charge in the shooting death of Moffat is scheduled for June 2023.
Teacher facing charges back in court June 27
The court date for a Paul Kane High School teacher charged with making child pornography and sexual exploitation has been moved to June due to a substantial amount of text messages to review.
The court date for Bryce Hughes, 28, of Edmonton, was adjourned until June 27, 2022, to review more than 20,000 text messages, St. Albert Provincial Court heard on May 30.
On March 31, Hughes was charged with agreeing to or arranging a sexual offence against a child; making sexually explicit material available to a child; making child pornography; and possession of child pornography, according to St. Albert RCMP.
Man to be sentenced in child pornography case
The sentencing date was set for a St. Albert man who was found with more than 1,000 child pornography videos and who pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.
The sentencing date for Keith Wiebe of St. Albert has been set for 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 1 at the St. Albert Provincial Court, court heard on May 30.
Wiebe viewed multiple images and videos of child pornography in August of 2018 and May 12, 2021, as reported by The Gazette.
Wiebe had software on his computer that allowed him to share folders with others around the world.
On Jan 21, 2021, the RCMP Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit made a connection with Wiebe’s computer. On Jan. 23, 2021, ICE made another connection showing files of child pornography, court heard.
On May 12, 2021, a search warrant was executed at his St. Albert residence during which officers obtained 64 hard drives, 1,051 videos, and 192 images of child pornography stored on a Windows desktop.
Man gets fine, driving ban for impaired
A 21-year-old St. Albert man has pleaded guilty to impaired driving, and faces a driving ban and a fine.
On May 30, Mathew Bonko pleaded guilty to one count of impaired driving and was sentenced to a one-year driving ban and a fine of $1,625.
According to an agreed statement of facts, on March 31, 2022, at 1 a.m. St. Albert RCMP were called to the scene of a collision.
Officers observed that a truck had hit a parked car and moved it over 1.5 metres.
Officers noted Bonko was at the scene of the collision and showed several signs of intoxication, including a strong smell of liquor when speaking with officers, slurring his words, and holding himself up on his truck, court heard.
He was arrested and taken to the St. Albert RCMP detachment. Bonko provided a breath sample of 110 on the intoxilizer machine.
The Crown acknowledged that Bonko had no previous criminal record and asked for a fine of $1,500 and a one-year driving probation.
The submission was not a joint submission.
Defence counsel Peter Shipanoff countered that this was a low for Bonko, who realized he has alcohol disuse disorder and who had been regularly attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings since the incident.
Shipanoff said Bonko lost his job as an apprentice electrician after losing his licence due to the impaired driving charge.
Shipanoff asked for a fine of $1,250 and six months to pay as Bonko is unemployed.
Judge T.W. Achtymichuk sentenced Bonko to a fine of $1,250 plus a victim surcharge of $375, for a total of $1,625.
Judge Achtymichuk said the roadside behaviour and the significant intoxication warranted a fine above the minimum charge of $1,000, but he gave Bonko until Nov. 30 to pay the fine due to his circumstances.
Bonko was also sentenced to a one-year driving ban.
Shipanoff requested Bonko participate in the Guardian Ignition Interlock program. Judge Achtymichuk approved the request.
Porch pirate pleads guilty, gets 23 days, fine
A woman pleaded guilty to four charges, including theft under $5,000 from a St. Albert home, at St. Albert Provincial Court on May 30.
Ashley Shewchuk, 36, who made a video appearance from the Edmonton Remand Centre, pleaded guilty to obstructing a police officer; breaching release conditions; failure to appear in court; and theft under $5,000, and was sentenced to a global 23 days in custody for all charges.
On April 18, 2019, St. Albert RCMP received a report of a theft from a St. Albert home, according to the agreed statement of facts.
On March 23, 2019, images from the homeowner’s camera showed Shewchuk removing packages from the homeowner’s front doorstep, court heard.
After the homeowner confronted Shewchuk about the packages, Shewchuk returned the damaged merchandise to the homeowner.
The homeowner attempted to get Shewchuk to pay for the damaged merchandise, but Shewchuk did not. The homeowner then contacted police.
On March 19, 2022, St. Albert RCMP were dispatched to a St. Albert home for a firearms complaint. There were several people gathered in the home. Shewchuk initially gave RCMP a fake name. When police discovered who she was, they discovered she had multiple warrants and release documents and a condition to reside in an Edmonton home unless an alternate address had been approved by a bail supervisor — which it had not.
Shewchuk was then arrested for obstructing a police officer, failure to comply with release orders, and warrants.
Shewchuk also pleaded guilty to a charge of failure to appear in court for the court date of June 14, 2021.
Judge T.W. Achtymichuk accepted a joint submission by the Crown and duty council of time served for a global 23 days in custody. Shewchuk had been in custody for 15 days.
“This sentence for these charges has been served,” said Achtymichuk.
Shewchuk remains in custody for other charges.
Shewchuk has terminal cancer and is trying to get her life back on track, said duty council.
“I want to deal with all my matters … I have quite a few matters around the province,” Shewchuk said, and thanked Judge Achtymichuk.
Man found with break-in instruments pleads guilty
A man who apprehended during a traffic stop in a St. Albert park and who was found in possession of break-in instruments pleaded guilty to three charges in St. Albert Provincial Court.
On May 30, Nickolas Shale entered guilty pleas for possession of break-in instruments; possession of property under $5,000; and failure to comply with release order conditions; and was sentenced to time served plus 25 days.
On May 11 at 10:26 p.m. RCMP stopped a blue Volkswagen Jetta in a St. Albert park, according to the agreed statement of facts.
As he sat in the car, Shale refused to identify himself or roll down his window until RCMP gave him a warning. Officers found Shale was wanted on unendorsed warrants and was on release order conditions dated April 6, 2022.
RCMP also found the Jetta was not marked as stolen, but the registration was expired and there was no valid proof of insurance, court heard.
Shale told RCMP he did not know the owner of the car.
Police found a cordless reciprocating saw on the rear seat and what looked to be a “freshly cut” catalytic converter on the floor of the Jetta, a pig mask, and a can of cannabis cigarettes, court heard.
The RCMP contacted the owner of the Jetta, who told police he had dropped the car off at a shop two days ago and if it was not there it was stolen.
Police seized the items and impounded the Jetta.
The court accepted the guilty plea and Shale was sentenced by joint submission to 55 days and forfeiture of all items seized.
Judge Achtymichuk gave Shale credit for the early guilty plea. With time served Shale has 25 days left in custody.
