Manitoban gets four months for her part in possession of stolen car

One of three Manitobans arrested in early June in relation to stolen property was sentenced Tuesday to four months in jail.

Elizabethe Racette appeared before the Medicine Hat courthouse by CCTV from the remand centre, entering guilty pleas to two counts of possessing stolen property, and breaching her probation. Due to time served, she will have 54 days of credit applied towards her sentence.

Racette was arrested June 6, alongside two others — Steven James Fontaine and Desmond Arthur Houle.

Police attention was drawn to the three after Fontaine and Houle allegedly shoplifted items from a convenience store on June 5, and the clerk was able to share a vehicle description and licence plate with police.

Police located the vehicle parked outside a residence the next day, and found the plate had been stolen in Winnipeg, and the vehicle reported stolen from a robbery/carjacking.

Houle came out of the residence and was arrested. Fontaine answered the door, and proceeded to climb out the back window with Racette. Racette was soon located, while the Canine Unit was used to track Fontaine.

Found in Racette’s possession was an identity card that did not belong to her. Racette told police she and Fontaine had traded meth and cash for the vehicle, and that they had travelled to Medicine Hat to stay with a relative of hers and hopefully attend drug treatment programming here.

Houle pled guilty to shoplifting charges soon after his arrest, while Fontaine remains in custody and will next appear Aug. 4.