Formercitywoman sentencedtotwo yearsinprison

A former Lethbridge woman whose criminal past finally caught up with her after she disappeared for a couple of years, has been sent to a federal penitentiary.

Nicole Amanda Deal pleaded guilty earlier this week in Lethbridge provincial court to 15 charges dating back to 2015 and 2016, and was sentenced to two years in prison.

The 34-year-old woman was caught with thousands of dollars in stolen property taken from some 80 people. Police recovered hundreds of stolen and forged documents, including passports, identification, bank documents and documents that allowed her to rent a storage locker. She even possessed equipment for making forgeries and she had written a how-to guide to forge identification and bank documents.

Police also seized during a search of her home a dozen different drugs, including heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and cannabis, as well as a sawed-off .22-calibre rifle, 12-gauge shotgun, a .177-calibre high-velocity gas-action pistol, and ammunition for all the firearms.

Deal’s charges comprise possession of stolen property, forgery, possession and use of identification information, drug possession, unlawful possession of firearms, breach of recognizance, failure to attend court and failure to report to probation.

In addition to her sentence, Deal was ordered to submit a sample of her DNA for the National DNA Databank, and she is prohibited from possessing firearms and other weapons for three years.

A co-accused, Elizabeth Brown-Shortt, faces similar charges. She remains in custody and is scheduled to have a trial in October.

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