CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A pair of stolen skates, an online ad and a victim conducting his own sting operation led to jail time for a P.E.I. man recently.
Devon Morris MacLean, 29, appeared before Chief Judge Nancy Orr in provincial court in Charlottetown where he pleaded guilty to theft and possessing stolen property.
Orr sentence him to 60 days in jail for possessing stolen property and 45 days for the theft, all to be served consecutively.
Crown attorney Jeff MacDonald told the court that on Nov. 7, 2018, a victim reported someone broke into his vehicle and stole hockey equipment, including two pairs of skates.
The victim’s father later noticed the skates for sale on classified ad website Kijiji and he contacted the seller to make arrangements to buy them.
MacDonald said the father bought the skates back and then identified MacLean to the police.
In a separate incident, MacLean and a woman went to a Kent store on May 22 where she stole a wireless doorbell and he took a baby monitor.
Neither of those items were recovered.
Defence lawyer Thane MacEachern said MacLean was struggling with an addiction at the time and has been off drugs since his arrest.
After hearing his sentence, MacLean spoke out and asked how he is supposed to get any help for his addiction.
“They don’t give you any help on this Island for drug addiction,” he said.
Orr responded by saying there are addiction treatment programs other people have accessed.
Along with the jail time, which Orr reduced by 18 days after credit for time served, MacLean will be on probation for 18 months.
MacLean must pay a total of $291.98 in restitution.
