18-month jail terms for ATM heist
It was a “difficult decision,” but two 20-year-olds who stole $178,000 in an ATM heist have to go to jail to deter others from committing the same type of crime, says a Saskatoon judge.
Chief Justice Martel Popescul sentenced Kyle Andrew Legge and Eric John Langhorst to 18 months in jail for breaking into the Conexus Credit Union and stealing $178,260 on May 11, 2012, and for conspiring to commit two other thefts, which weren’t successful.
“This is not a situation where the offenders embarked on a single act of stupidity and foolishness,” Popescul said Friday in Court of Queen’s Bench.
“They appear to have enjoyed, to some degree, the benefits of their ill-gotten gains and they concocted two other plans to become involved in similar thefts after some planning and deliberations, and put those thoughts into action.”
Legge and Langhorst’s defence lawyers had argued they should serve their sentences in the community under strict conditions, stressing they had no criminal records, pleaded guilty and made significant positive changes after they were charged, but Popescul decided on jail.
“While it is unfortunate that a term of incarceration will disrupt these young men’s lives, it is the price that needs to be paid for the serious mistakes they’ve made,” he said.
The two men were ordered to pay $186,734 in restitution for the cash stolen and damage incurred. They also had to forfeit items they bought with the proceeds of the crime, including a Ford F350 truck, stereo equipment and furniture.
Legge came up with the idea for the theft after he was fired from his job with G4S, an armoured car company that supplies cash to ATMs. He used his knowledge of the ATM codes to commit the theft while Langhorst acted as a lookout. In August 2012, they also tried, unsuccessfully, to saw the door handle off an armoured car, and in September 2012 they spray painted security cameras at a bank, but then abandoned the scene.
The ATM heist, although planned, “was not well thoughtout,” Popescul noted.
The police were quickly on to Legge since it was apparent it was an inside job, then afterwards he and Langhorst spent large amounts of money in peculiar circumstances — including paying $7,000 in cash in $20 bills to rent a piece of land.
Popescul sentenced both men to 12 months for the ATM theft, plus three months consecutive for each of the two conspiracy charges, for a total of 18 months.