Fraudster gets time served

A Niagara judge balked at the suggestion a man who had a habit of stealing cheques and forging the owner’s name, including cheques belonging to an 84-year-old Welland woman, be ordered to perform community service.

“This man is a colossal con artist,” Judge Harvey Brownstone said Thursday in Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines.

“I cannot understand why any Crown would want him inflicted on any community agency to do community service.” Another suggestion that didn’t sit well was that Archer Karr, 41, pay restitution to his victims.

“Is that practical, or is he just going to steal from someone else to pay his restitution?” the judge asked.

Ultimately, Karr was sentenced to time served and placed on probation for two years. He was also ordered to pay restitution to the elderly Welland resident.

In spring 2019, court heard, a number of Welland residents reported to police that cheques had been stolen after their vehicles had been broken into. Several cheques were also stolen from a home.

An investigation determined Karr would make the stolen cheques payable to himself in various amounts, $200 to $400 each, and cash them.

Among the victims was the 84-year-old woman.

Court was told the woman’s chequebook was stolen and 10 cheques, totalling more than $2,300, had been fraudulently cashed by “numerous different suspects,” said assistant Crown attorney Mark Eshuis.

Two cheques were cashed by Karr.

The defendant appeared in court via teleconference from Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre and pleaded guilty to several charges, including fraud and uttering a forged document. Karr told the judge he previously battled drug addiction, but has been able to conquer that demon due to his incarceration. “It saved my life,” he said of his time behind bars.

The judge questioned whether the man could maintain his sobriety. “I can guarantee you that most people with drug problems, as soon as they get out, they go right back to drugs,” Brownstone said. “And, there’s enough deadly viruses going around right now, I don’t think you need to threaten your life with drugs.”