Man jailed for string of offences

A P.E.I. man who gave himself a two-for-one deal by hiding a metal detector in a box with a second machine that he paid for was sentenced recently to six months in jail on four charges.

Jeremy Russell Wagner, 40, appeared before Chief Judge Nancy Orr in provincial court in Charlottetown by video from jail where he has been in custody since his arrest.

During his appearance, Wagner pleaded guilty to three counts of theft and one count of being unlawfully in a dwelling.

Reading from an agreed statement of facts, Crown attorney Gerald Quinn told the court store security at Canadian Tire saw Wagner take a metal detector out of a box.

The court heard Wagner then put it in another box that already held a detector.

Quinn said Wagner paid for a single detector getting two machines for the price of one. Defence lawyer Thane MacEachern told the court Wagner still had the stolen metal detector.

In a separate incident at Canadian Tire, Wagner stole a winch kit, car battery, toilet paper and a bottle of Sprite with all items totalling almost $900 in value. Quinn said Wagner fled, and all but the Sprite was recovered.

The unlawful entry charge stemmed from an incident during which Wagner and a second person were caught on video entering a building with duffel bags. Quinn said the police were investigating after a report from a building resident that speakers, a PS4 video game system, an Apple Watch and some other items, all with an approximate value of more than $1,600, were stolen from their apartment.

During another unrelated incident, Wagner stole a vacuum cleaner worth $402.49 from Best Buy.

Before hearing his sentence, Wagner addressed the court.

“I apologize and I promise to do better,” he said.

Orr waived the victim surcharges that are normally imposed because the accused owed more than $63,000 in fines and other penalties.

Orr said that was one of the largest balances she had seen in a long time. She also ordered Wagner to pay $1,020 in restitution.