Alta. woman gets 6 months in jail for multiple crimes

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This article was published 19/01/2024 (609 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An Alberta woman will be spending more time behind bars in Manitoba after she was handed a six-month jail sentence after pleading guilty to driving a stolen vehicle filled with stolen goods through Brandon last fall.

Desiree Leanne Altmiks, 38, pleaded guilty in court on Thursday to possessing a stolen vehicle, possessing stolen property under $5,000, public mischief and possessing forged documents with an intent to commit an offence.

Both the Crown and defence agreed on a six-month jail sentence, which the Crown said gives Altmiks credit for pleading guilty instead of having the case go to trial.

Crown attorney Sarah Kok read the evidence for the charges in court.

On Oct. 19, 2023, around 4:45 p.m., Brandon police received a call about a stolen truck in Brandon that was travelling in the Richmond Avenue area.

The truck was reported to have been stolen earlier that month from an Enterprise rental car company in Alberta.

Police located the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop. Altmiks, who was driving the truck, was arrested and taken into custody. She provided police with an Alberta driver’s licence with a different name and date of birth than her own, falsely leading the officers to believe she was someone else.

When police learned of Altmiks’ true identity, a computer search of her name revealed several warrants for her arrest outside of Alberta for various fraud charges.

During a search of the vehicle, police found an array of expensive items, including drones, scooters and Apple laptops.

Receipts found in the truck showed that the items had been purchased with a credit card with a name different from Altmiks’.

Police also found items in the truck to tie Altmiks to forgery, including a laminating machine, paper cutters, Exacto knives and individual card sleeves. Several uncut sheets of paper with Indigenous status cards printed on them were also found.

Officers confirmed with Edmonton police that a woman whose credit card was found in Altmiks’ possession had reported the theft of her belongings, including identity documents.

The Crown noted Altmiks’ related criminal record, which contains several convictions for fraud, forgery and possession of stolen items.

“If (Altmiks) continues any of this kind of behaviour, she’s going to be facing a much more lengthy custodial sentence,” Kok said.

Altmiks’ defence lawyer, Andrew Synyshyn, told the court his client admitted to her actions and said Altmiks had just stopped in Brandon on a spree of stealing goods while making her way to Niagara Falls, Ont.

Synyshyn said that although Altmiks told him she was stealing to survive at the time of her charges, she has worked at Save On Foods in Alberta and has four children in that province. After she gets out of jail, the defence lawyer said, Altmiks plans to return to Edmonton.

Appearing in court by video from Women’s Correctional Centre, Altmiks apologized for her actions and told the court about her positive experience with the jail’s Walking Bear rehabilitation program.

Judge Hewitt-Michta ultimately endorsed the recommended six-month jail sentence, but said that while she hoped Altmiks’ statement to the court that she was going to change was true, the judge was skeptical.

“It’s great to plead guilty and say ‘I’m sorry for all the bad things I did,’” Hewitt-Michta said. “But it all really means nothing unless you’re prepared to follow it up with action and make changes.”

The judge also sentenced Altmiks to two years of probation after her jail sentence.

After getting credit for time she has already served in custody after being denied bail in October, Altmiks has just over a month of her sentence left to serve behind bars.

» gmortfield@brandonsun.com

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