Two men charged with mail theft, again

Two men who faced charges following a rash of mail and identity thefts in Regina two years ago are back in custody.

According to information from the Regina Police Service, 40-yearold James Donald Provost from Edmonton and 37-year-old Brad Waselenchuk from Regina were arrested Wednesday outside a Victoria Avenue hotel while allegedly in possession of stolen mail. Provost allegedly also had a quantity of cocaine and methamphetamine on him.

While the matter remains under investigation, police said the charges the pair face relate to a break-in at an apartment building on the 2700 block of College Avenue on Oct. 15. The building’s front door was damaged during the break-in and police learned the tenants’ mailboxes were broken into.

The resulting investigation led to the two men now charged, police said.

Provost’s charges include possession of stolen mail, break, enter and commit theft, drug possession and breach of probation. Waselenchuk is accused of break and enter, possessing stolen mail and breaching probation.

Both men made their first court appearances on Thursday and had their charges set over to next week, the Crown having opposed their release from custody.

Neither is a stranger to court, having been arrested on similar charges in the not-so-distant past.

Provost received a jail sentence in October 2015 for his role in a crime spree that saw mail and identities stolen and businesses defrauded. While it wasn’t immediately clear what became of his then-co-accused Waselenchuk’s charges, a third accused ended up pleading guilty to the mail theft, and received a jail term.

Provost had initially faced more than 70 charges but ended up being sentenced for just 20. He received a total of 30 months jail, but was left with just a little more than half of that after receiving credit for remand.

During his sentencing at the time, court heard he and his accomplices defrauded several businesses, including by using fake identification, in November and December 2014. When Provost was arrested that December, police found receipts from some of the fraudulent purchases he’d made, equipment used to make fake identification, as well as identification from Saskatchewan, Alberta and Ontario featuring more than a dozen names and Provost’s picture.

Provost said during his sentencing he had addictions to gambling and methamphetamine, but told Judge Barbara Tomkins he had a five-year plan to turn his life around and help others once released from jail.

Tomkins questioned him on how many times he’d said that to judges in the past.