Woman pleads guilty to fraud scheme

Taking new items from the shelves inside Canadian Tire in Charlottetown and then returning them for refunds has resulted in house arrest for a P.E.I. woman.

Lensay Alexis Llewellyn, 44, pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced on May 5 in provincial court in Charlottetown.

Crown attorney Lisa Goulden told the court that between April 26 and May 30, 2021, Llewellyn went to Canadian Tire six times with receipts of items she previously purchased. On those six occasions, she took the same items from the shelves and with the old receipts, returned them for refunds totalling $1,004.86.

Goulden noted that even though Llewellyn doesn't have a prior criminal record, she had a fraud matter previously before the courts that was diverted to the province's alternative measures program. She began that program 10 days prior to starting the new fraud offences at Canadian Tire. For that prior fraud offence, she completed alternative measures in November, and in doing so, she avoided a criminal conviction.

Llewellyn, who lives near Montague, was represented by legal-aid lawyer Alex Dalton. Dalton said her client is a single mother whose source of income is social assistance.

Llewellyn spoke in court and apologized for committing the "despicable" criminal offences. Llewellyn added that, although not an excuse, she was dealing with financial issues at the time of the offences.

"It will not happen again," she said. Chief Judge Jeff Lantz described the offences as a "pre-meditated fraud scheme."

Lantz said that normally, the offence would have resulted in a short time in jail. But given Llewellyn's circumstances, he instead sentenced her to a 30-day conditional sentence involving house arrest and two years of probation. Llewellyn was also ordered to pay $1,004.86 in restitution to Canadian Tire.