Final inmate sentenced for role in 2016 riot

Michael Joseph Bryant was ordered to serve a sentence of slightly less than two years — in addition to another recently finished jail sentence — for setting a fire and smashing appliances during a riot at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre.

He was the last to be sentenced in connection to the almost sevenhour riot at the provincial jail on March 29, 2016. Judge Brent Klause accepted a joint submission from the Crown and defence on Monday in Saskatoon provincial court.

Bryant was one of 14 inmates charged with participating in the chaos, which was documented on video. Inmates are seen throwing light bulbs at the guard station and barricading doors with a food cart and mini fridge. Several men, wearing toques and shirts over their faces, carried weapons made from brooms and mop pails as they tried to kick in cell doors.

Court heard the riot caused more than $600,000 in damage.

Klause noted that Bryant did not appear to be the riot “ringleader,” but helped cause a “significant amount of damage.”