Man jailed for string of offences

Samuel David Matthews pleaded guilty to 14 offences committed during several months

A P.E.I. man who committed a string of thefts, used counterfeit money and broke into a construction trailer was sentenced recently to 11 months and five days in jail.

Samuel David Matthews appeared before Chief Judge Nancy Orr in provincial court by video from jail where he has been in custody since his arrest.

Matthews was sentenced after pleading guilty to 14 charges, including uttering (using) counterfeit money, two counts of possessing break and enter tools, possessing hydromorphone, break and enter, and seven counts of theft.

Because of public health measures in place due to the coronavirus (COVID-19 strain) pandemic, the lawyers involved took part in the proceedings by phone.

During the proceedings, Crown attorney Lisa Goulden read an agreed statement of facts that detailed the crimes Matthews committed over a span of several months.

They included an incident in December when Matthews used counterfeit money at a

Swiss Chalet restaurant the day before he tried unsuccessfully to do it again.

In March, the police arrested Matthews after responding to a call about a suspicious male dressed in black and riding a bicycle.

Goulden said the police followed bicycle tracks to a construction site where they found the bike with a pry bar under the seat.

They then followed footprints to a construction trailer where they found Matthews, who admitted to using cocaine and had a large quantity of tools in a kit bag.

In separate incidents over several months, Matthews stole items from multiple stores, including hundreds of dollars in meat, other grocery items, electronics, a smart lightbulb and an impact gun.

The court heard that in December, the police also found Matthews with 11 hydromorphone pills that had a street value of about $25 each.

In sentencing Matthews, Orr said it was obvious from reading a pre-sentence he had addiction and mental health issues.

That pre-sentence report included comments from Matthews that he thought house arrest or a sentence served on weekends would be appropriate.

Orr said house arrest would be in no way appropriate and would set Matthews up for failure.

Along with the jail time, Matthews will be on probation for three years, during which time he will be subject to electronic monitoring, if directed.

He must write apology letters to the victims and is banned from all the businesses where he committed the crimes.

Matthews must also provide a DNA sample for the national databank.