Just a few days into a conditional sentence order, a man convicted of a string of identity thefts is charged with breaching that order and is back in custody.
Gregory James Samuel Cromarty’s lawyer convinced a provincial court judge in late November that his arrest and guilty plea represented a “rehabilitative moment,” and he was ready to change.
• READ MORE: Chilliwack man who went on ID theft crime spree sentenced
“Mr. Cromarty acted out of desperation and regrets the harm to all individuals,” defence lawyer Rebecca Gill said Nov. 23 at his sentencing hearing.
Cromarty pleaded guilty to 12 of the 32 charges he faced after he fraudulently purchased thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, defrauding or attempting to defraud 27 different people using stolen ID.
Gill asked the court to release him on time served to a Maple Ridge treatment centre followed by three years probation.
• READ MORE: Chilliwack man pleads to fraud and ID theft crime spree
Crown counsel Sandra Di Curzio asked Judge Wendy Young for a sentence of 18 months for the guilty pleas to, among other things, falsely obtaining credit cards; possession of a stolen vehicle; falsely impersonating someone and using a credit card in their name; fraud over $5,000; forging an Indian Status certificate; and possession of methamphetamine.
Young gave the 45-year-old the standard 1.5-to-one credit for his 254 days served, and he was released on 381 days time served. He was also handed a consecutive six-month conditional sentence followed by three years probation.
That was Nov. 28 at which point he had a bed waiting for him at the Hope for Freedom Society drug recovery house in Maple Ridge.
But on Monday, Cromarty was re-arrested and charged with one count of breaching his conditional sentence order.
The details of his breach were not addressed in court on Dec. 12, but according to Court Services Online, it occurred in Maple Ridge.
He is next due in court Dec. 19 via video.
In between his sentencing hearing and the handing down of sentence, Cromarty’s partner Virginia Myles gave birth to the couple’s second child. She faced faced 15 charges in connection with the identity thefts and pleaded guilty to eight of them on Oct. 20. She is scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 15.
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paul.henderson@theprogress.com
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