Break-and-enter charges dropped against Kouvalis and PC hopeful

Political figures both pleaded guilty to trespassing offence for 1 a.m. Kelseys escapade

The Crown has dropped break-andenter charges against controversial political strategist Nick Kouvalis and a former political hopeful in exchange for their guilty pleas to a noncriminal trespassing offence.

Kouvalis, a key figure in Mayor John Tory’s 2014 election campaign, and Sarah Warry-Poljanski, who failed to win the Ontario Progressive Conservative nomination in Hamilton Mountain last fall, told the Star they pleaded guilty Wednesday to a provincial trespassing charge, paid a $50 fine plus $15 surcharge and now face no accusations of criminal conduct. They also each made a $1,000 contribution to Halton charities and performed 15 hours of community service.

Halton Region police Const. Colin MacLeod told the Star in December they were charged Sept. 26 after an alarm was triggered at a closed Kelseys restaurant in Burlington. MacLeod said police arrived to find two people drinking inside.

Hours earlier, Warry-Poljanski had lost the PC nomination at a meeting. The addictions counsellor had also previously run for school trustee.

Windsor-based Kouvalis, a prominent conservative and co-owner of Campaign Research polling and strategy firm, declined Wednesday to discuss details of the night in question, other than to say in a statement they arrived at about 1 a.m. and “the door was open.”

Warry-Poljanski said in an interview that “it was all a misunderstanding. There was never any criminal intent. The way it played out in the media it sounded a lot more exciting than it was.”