Court overturns jail time for fraudster who violated house arrest

The Quebec Court of Appeal has overturned a lower court decision to send a woman to jail for six months after she twice violated her house arrest conditions.

Anita Obodzinski pleaded guilty in January 2018 to defrauding an 89-year-old woman out of her life savings. In 2013, Obodzinski obtained a falsified incapacity mandate that allowed her to empty more than $474,000 from her bank accounts, and force the senior out of her home.

Obodzinski received a sentence of two years less a day to be served in the community, including a year of house arrest, followed by three years' probation, after pleading guilty to six charges, including obstructing justice, mischief and knowingly using forged documents.

In March 2019, Obodzinski was sentenced to six months in jail after she was found to have twice violated her house arrest order. However she appealed that sentence, arguing the presiding judge had not taken into account a joint sentencing submission from the Crown and defence concerning the house arrest violations and urging the appeals court to examine whether the sentencing was disproportionate.

In a 20-page ruling made public on Wednesday, the Court of Appeal found the lower court judge had erred in factoring in the gravity of the offences Obodzinski was convicted of originally when deciding the sanction for the breaches of house arrest.

The appeals court also found that since the bail conditions imposed on Obodzinski pending the outcome of her appeal were essentially the same as those of her house arrest and lasted longer than her original sentence, she had served her time.