Offender phoned his victim 130 times from jail

A man was sentenced to 15 months behind bars after he pleaded guilty to forcibly confining a woman and trying to obstruct justice by phoning her more than 100 times from jail.

Levi Waters, 43, also pleaded guilty in Brandon provincial court Monday to failing to attend court and several counts of breaching his probation order.

The Crown recommended a 17-month jail sentence followed by two years of probation, while defence argued for a time-served sentence equivalent to slightly more than one year.

Crown attorney Rich Lonstrup detailed the facts behind the offences.

On Oct. 23, 2025, members of the Brandon Police Service were sent to a residence on 10th Street after receiving a report of an assault in progress.

The caller told police she had received a message from the victim, who told her she was in a “dangerous situation” with Waters, Lonstrup said.

Police went to the residence, and after receiving no response to loud knocks, they used a ram to get inside, court heard.

The woman then immediately came to the door, and Waters followed shortly after, court heard.

“She described that inside the home … when she wanted to leave the bedroom, he wouldn’t let her leave. He kept saying, ‘You can’t leave,’” Lonstrup said.

He said Waters was arrested and charged with forcible confinement and assault. However, the Crown stayed the assault charge, along with others, after Waters pleaded guilty to the several other offences.

“(The victim), although she had never recanted the charges … has shown enough reluctance that the Crown is content to take the forcible confinement on these facts,” he said.

Waters then failed to show up for his court hearing on Nov. 3, 2025.

On Nov. 6, 2025, Virden RCMP received a call to do a wellness check on a woman in Sioux Valley Dakota Nation. The woman, who was the victim of the forcible confinement, had told the caller she wanted to be picked up “urgently” because of issues she was having with Waters, the Crown said.

Police went to the residence, knocked on the door and didn’t receive a response, he said. The officers left and came back later, indicating that they were going to do a forced entry, Lonstrup said.

The victim came outside, and police determined Waters had been there, which was in breach of his court-ordered conditions not to have contact with the woman, court heard.

Lonstrup said he was also breaching his curfew, as this happened at around 3 a.m.

On Nov. 15, 2025, police received a report from a third party who said the victim and Waters were together, and when police went to her residence, they found Waters inside past his curfew hours. He was arrested and taken into custody, where he has remained since.

Lonstrup said when Waters went into custody, he immediately started using other inmates’ pins to phone the victim.

The phone system at the Brandon Correctional Centre blocks inmates from contacting witnesses or people they are prohibited from contacting. Each inmate is assigned a pin number, which they punch every time they make a phone call.

By using another inmate’s pin, Waters was able to contact the victim, the Crown said.

He called her 130 times, Lonstrup said.

“It’s obvious they were still very much an affectionate couple,” he said. “He was encouraging her and going to the extremes, not by threats or intimidation but by urging her to go to victim services and get the charges dropped.”

“Obstruction of justice hits a very vulnerable note … It’s cheating the justice system by using someone’s emotional connection or vulnerability to get charges dropped,” Lonstrup said.

Lonstrup said Waters had a “considerable” criminal record and specifically noted that he had recent convictions for intimate partner violence along with multiple convictions for failing to attend court.

Defence lawyer Bob Harrison shared his client’s personal circumstances, including his Gladue factors.

He said Waters’ mother went to residential school and his father died when he was eight years old.

“He grew up exposed to violence and addictions with many of the relatives, and he was certainly surrounded with it in his community,” Harrison said.

While Harrison said his client doesn’t have any issues with alcohol, he wants to go to treatment to address his addictions to crystal methamphetamine and cocaine.

Harrison emphasized that his client never tried to threaten or intimidate the victim and described it as Waters explaining “what she could do.”

By Waters entering a guilty plea to the charge, Harrison said he acknowledged he should have left the matter alone.

When given a chance to speak, Waters said there was a lot going on with his family and that he was dealing with addiction at the time of the allegations.

Judge Patrick Sullivan told Waters there is an “obvious expectation of the court and society that an accused person accused of violence against a domestic partner is not communicating with them while in custody.”

He said it was concerning that he couldn’t be managed while in a correctional centre.

However, Sullivan said he had “optimism” for who Waters could become if he stays sober and goes to treatment.

Sullivan sentenced Waters to a total of 15 months and five days in custody.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com