A man in St. Albert court received a jail sentence of eight months and 15 days for a string of break and enters on rural properties.
Kyle Ferchuk-Schmutz, 36, pleaded guilty to three counts of shopbreaking with intent, as well as failing to comply with a release order that he not communicate with a woman who was with him when he committed some of the crimes.
Last November, police caught Ferchuk-Schmutz and a woman on a rural property near Seba Beach. The pair were driving a 2005 Dodge truck, its rear window broken and its headlights turned off, in the early hours of the morning. They had cut a lock on the property’s gate.
The woman, who was driving the truck, told police she and Ferchuk-Schmutz met each other only a few days prior to the break-in and they bonded over a shared interest in scrap metal. She said she was a “copper enthusiast.”
On March 18, police caught Ferchuk-Schmutz with a group of people who were trespassing on a Sturgeon County property.
A worker on the property called police when, in the early morning, he saw numerous people he didn’t recognize entering buildings and taking parts off vehicles.
Police arrived at 9 a.m., and the worker guided them to a barn where he had last seen the group.
Ferchuk-Schmutz appeared in the doorway of the barn and was arrested. Police also found the woman from the November break and enter in the barn, and three others were in various locations around the property, gaining access to outhouses.
The group had tools for breaking and entering.
The details of the third break-and-enter incident that occurred in 2021, also on a rural property, were not discussed in court.
Crown prosecutor Ian Ross sought a 15-month jail sentence.
He noted that Ferchuk-Scmutz’s criminal record, while short, involved a number of recent and related crimes — namely, three separate charges for breaking and entering rural properties.
The most recent break-ins happened while Ferchuk-Schmutz was awaiting sentencing on another, earlier break-in.
Rural property crime is far too common in Alberta, Ross said, and rural properties face longer waits for police to respond.
Defence lawyer Jordan McDermott asked for a six-month jail sentence with 18 months probation.
A Gladue Report detailed that members of Ferchuk-Scmutz’s family attended residential schools. He suffered both abuse and neglect as a child.
Ferchuk-Schmutz’s young son died recently. Grief from his son’s death led Ferchuk-Scmutz to into addiction, and he started spending more time with people who were a negative influence on his life. Prior to the death, he had no criminal record.
Justice Carrie-Ann Downey agreed that rural crime is a significant issue and deterrence was important in this case.
However, she also said it was “remarkable” that Ferchuk-Scmutz hadn’t appeared before the court earlier in his life considering all of the struggles he had faced.
Prior to his son’s death, he lived a pro-social life, and she noted he was taking steps towards rehabilitation.
Downey sentenced Ferchuk-Scmutz to eight months and 15 days, with 154 days already served.
