Feeding empty envelopes into the Alberta Treasury Branch ATM, then withdrawing the money supposedly deposited in said envelopes, netted the culprit $500 in fines, 30 days in jail, and a restitution order.
Robert Douglas Ball pleaded guilty to fraud under $5,000 in Alberta Provincial Court in Stettler on Thursday, May 28.
Ball appeared before Judge Holmes, who heard that Ball fed the empty envelopes into the Stettler branch's ATM, registering false amounts of deposited money, which he then withdrew.
Ball, who was in custody on other matters, was ordered to repay the $2,378 he took from the ATM using the empty envelope scheme, and was also fined $250 when he pleaded guilty to not reporting to the Stettler RCMP detachment for fingerprinting.
Ball also pleaded guilty to an assault charge and a fail to appear charge levied against him by the Bashaw RCMP detachment in relation to a domestic assault.
Ball was released on a peace bond on the assault, with conditions ensuring good behaviour and no contact with the victim. He was fined another $250 for the failure to appear.
For the ATB fraud, Ball was sentenced to 30 days in jail, which he has already served while in custody on other matters.
Darcy Lee Shepperd was pulled over by police and found to be driving while suspended and without insurance, two charges to which the man pleaded guilty at court.
The driving without insurance landed Shepperd at $2,875 fine plus victim's surcharge. Driving while suspended landed him another $500 fine, which with the victim's surcharge was 30 per cent higher.
Curtis Roger Shuman had a bit of luck at court when the charge levied against him of robbery was downgraded by the Crown to theft under $5,000.
Shuman pleaded guilty to the thefts, and was ordered to pay restitution to the victim in the amount of $1,872 – which by his plea of guilty at court he had already done.
Court ran unusually long due to being the only sitting being held in Stettler this month due to a judges' conference cancelling the earlier session.