Woman gets 2 years for role as getaway driver in armed robbery

Vanessa Kristina Kraft went to Crackers Restaurant and Lounge in Saskatoon with intentions to play VLTs and socialize with friends. She left as the getaway driver for an armed robbery.

Surveillance video shows Kraft and three others in the bar around 9 p.m. on Jan. 22, 2017. An employee told police two men ordered drinks before robbing him at knifepoint, stealing $30,000 in cash, alcohol and framed sports jerseys.

They also took the VLT code and ripped out a DVD recorder before leaving in Kraft’s car, Crown prosecutor Paul Goldstein told a Saskatoon provincial court judge on Thursday. Court heard not all the video footage was destroyed.

Defence lawyer Leslie Sullivan said the crime appeared spontaneous to Kraft. But she did help the men escape once she knew what was happening, Sullivan said.

The mother, 29, was sentenced to two years in a federal penitentiary after Judge Vanessa Monar Enweani accepted a joint submission from the Crown and defence. Kraft, who was out on bail, hugged her mother before leaving in handcuffs.

Sullivan said Kraft served a previous prison term for drug trafficking but has been clean for seven months. Her boyfriend, Kendal Campeau, is lated for a preliminary hearing in April in connection with the robbery. His co-accused, Michael Laprise, has been committed to stand trial. A fourth accused, Ashley Winegarden, is wanted on an arrest warrant.