Jail for stolen property conviction

TIME WILL BE CONCURRENT WITH ANOTHER SENTENCE

Guy William Stewart was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong property.

The Lethbridge man was living in a residence with two others earlier this year when police showed up with a search warrant. The police, who had been investigating the criminal activities of the two other tenants, searched the residence, including Stewart’s room. That’s where they found several pieces of identification that didn’t belong to him, including drivers’ licences that had been reported stolen.

Stewart pleaded guilty Thursday in Lethbridge provincial court to single charge of possession of stolen property under $5,000, and was sentenced to two months in jail. The sentence, however, will be served at the same time as a six-month sentence Stewart was given earlier in the week for fleeing from police.

The Crown explained had Stewart dealt with the possession charge Tuesday with his other matter, he likely still would have been sentenced to six months, which warrants Thursday’s concurrent sentence for possession of stolen property.

The charge of failing to stop for police stems from an incident around midnight Jan. 31 when an off-duty police officer saw Stewart at the nightclub and knew there were warrants for his arrest. After Stewart drove away, the officer requested an on-duty officer to conduct a traffic stop, but when the officer activated his emergency lights, Stewart refused to stop, drove through a red light and sped off.

Rather than risk the public’s safety during a high-speed pursuit, the chase was called off and Stewart was arrested later.

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