Robbery will keep man in jail

Committing a violent robbery with a crime boss he later shot to death has landed a Calgary man a four-year, three-month sentence.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Bruce Millar on Wednesday accepted a joint sentencing submission from Crown prosecutor Scott Watson and defence lawyer Alain Hepner for that term for Joshua Matechuk.

Matechuk pleaded guilty last month to an April 17, 2015, robbery of a scrap metal shop as part of a crime spree he was involved in with crime boss Rodney Conway.

One of the three victims of that heist spoke of the trauma caused by being victimized when masked, armed men raided the shop.

“Since that day I feel scared, I feel it’s hard to trust anyone,” Kurt Russell said, reading from his victim impact statement.

“I’m always concerned someone will do something … similar when I’m by myself or with my family,” Russell said.

Matechuk himself addressed court, apologizing for his role in the robbery, which including pistol whipping another victim.

He spoke of “a deep and sincere sorrow and regret for my actions” and said he hopes to use his time in jail to turn his life around.

“There are no words I can say to take away the pain,” he said.

Matechuk admitted taking part in the violent robbery while testifying in his own defence to a charge of second-degree murder in Conway’s death the day after the heist.

Matechuk told court he fatally shot Conway in a southeast parking lot believing the crime boss was about to shoot him.

Millar said while he had some problems with Matechuk’s story he could not reject his claims he was acting in self-defence.

Because of pretrial custody credit, Matechuk has 16 months left to serve.