Gambling addiction drove series of thefts, court told

A 51-year-old Brandon man was sentenced to more than five months of time served in custody for a string of crimes fuelled by his gambling addiction.

Aaron Symbalisty pleaded guilty in Brandon provincial court on Thursday to uttering threats, two counts of theft under $5,000, possession of property obtained by crime and using a credit card knowing it was obtained by a commission of an offence.

He was ordered to pay restitution of $1,110 to three individuals he stole money from, including a car dealership employee.

“Everything came crashing down as a result of his gambling,” his defence lawyer, Andrew Synyshyn, said in court.

“He’s acknowledged that since 18, he has a crippling addiction that’s resulted in lying to people who love him, such as his wife, his daughter, his mother. It’s involved him losing everything.”

The offending began on Feb. 24 when police were called to the Mercato Convenience Store on 12th Street around 8 p.m. for a report of a possible theft in progress, Crown attorney Andrew Sieklicki said.

Symbalisty told police he was intoxicated and acknowledged he was aggressive toward staff.

“He indicates that there was a confrontation with the store clerk and believed that the clerk responded aggressively towards him, and that he made comments that could be threatening, including that he would punch the store clerk,” Sieklicki said.

He was arrested for the incident.

Nearly two months later, police were investigating Symbalisty again after he was shown on surveillance video stealing a Precision Toyota employee’s wallet off their desk on April 14. The employee locked their credit card and reported the theft to police after noticing a fraudulent transaction of about $315 at Mobil gas station and two failed transactions at Shoppers Drug Mart and Circle K for more than $100 each.

On July 24, Symbalisty stole a wallet containing $210 from a man who hired him to do work on his home.

Then on Aug. 5, police received a report from a man saying his Milwaukee power tools had been stolen from his job site. He was tipped off that his tools may be located in a garage on Third Street.

Police searched the garage and found some of the tools as Symbalisty pulled up to the residence in a truck.

“Ultimately, Mr. Symbalisty was arrested due to items being located in the back seat of the vehicle, which were confirmed to be stolen from that same incident,” Sieklicki said.

He said Symbalisty’s offending began when he lost his employment and was dealing with family turmoil, which fuelled his gambling addiction and led him to turn to substance use.

“To some extent, he gambled his freedom, tried to take some shortcuts here through theft and using other people’s money and tools, and he lost,” Synyshyn said.

He summed up Symbalisty’s offending with the analogy that “the house always wins.”

Synyshyn said he’s hopeful his client will continue seeking support for his addiction and see this as an opportunity to start anew.

Symbalisty had no prior criminal record and has an enhanced credit of 162 days of time served in the Brandon Correctional Centre.

The Crown and defence jointly recommended a sentence of 105 days along with supervised probation.

The offender apologized for his actions and expressed his desire to continue counselling.

Provincial court Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta accepted the joint recommendation from both counsel and acknowledged that getting help for addictions is challenging.

“I’ve dealt with many people over the years who, as a result of gambling addictions, have had their lives spin out of control,” she said.

“If you’ve lost your partner and the respect of your daughter as a result of your behaviour, then nothing I can do is worse punishment than that. And if that doesn’t motivate you to get help and change, then, you know, there’s no hope of me motivating you.”

She wished Symbalisty luck and imposed two years of supervised probation with conditions that include participating in counselling, not contacting the complainants and not attending the Mercato Convenience Store or the car dealership.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com