Sentencing delayed for ailing fraudster

Man convicted in Okanagan hockey scheme needs surgery, says doctor

Sentencing of a man convicted of defrauding Okanagan hockey families is being delayed for medical reasons.

Michael Elphicke was convicted in B.C. Supreme Court of fraud over $5,000, theft over $5,000 and unauthorized management of a lottery scheme.

Elphicke’s attorney, James Pennington, on Tuesday provided a written statement to the court from Elphicke’s Calgary doctor outlining his medical issues, including kidney failure and a diabetic ulcer that requires surgery on his foot.

The statement was requested by Crown counsel Patrick Fullerton last week after he alleged Elphicke was delaying sentencing and the preparation of a presentence report. The doctor’s report noted Elphicke would require about a month of recovery time following surgery.

“The sentencing currently scheduled for Feb. 23 is not going to take place,” Pennington said.

Court heard the pre-sentence report would take around eight weeks to prepare.

The matter returns to court March 5 to fix a new sentencing date.

Meanwhile, Elphicke’s partner Loren Reagan remains a fugitive from the law. There is a Canada-wide warrant for his arrest after he failed to appear in court.

Reagan and Elphicke were both involved with a failed project to build a hockey dorm on city-owned land in 2011. That proposal was enthusiastically endorsed by Penticton city council. Reagan is believed to be working and living in the Middle East.