The Jasper man who pled guilty in October to stealing nearly $10,000 from two local hotels will be incarcerated for seven months after a joint submission requesting a conditional sentence was rejected by Judge Donald Norheim last Thursday.

Craig David Mumby admitted to stealing $8,843 from the Lobstick Lodge and a further $1,003 from the Athabasca Hotel during an emotional court appearance on October 27. At that time, both the prosecutor and defense counsel had asked for a suspended sentence, but Norheim denied that request.

The judge opened Mumby’s sentencing hearing by reiterating his rationale for the refusal. The Provincial Court of Appeal has consistently indicated that denunciation and deterrance are paramount concerns when dealing with acts of theft that involve a breach of trust, Norheim said.

Even if Mumby had only stolen when in a position of trust on one occasion, the higher court’s decisions indicated that a suspended or conditional sentence would be too lenient, Norheim said, adding that Mumby’s second offence was an aggravating factor in this case.

“The thing that puts this case out of reach of anything other than real jail is that it happened twice,” he said.

Despite this, defense counsel Richard Ireland made an extensive argument for the consideration of a conditional sentence.

“Although denunciation and deterrance are primary, it is not mandatory that this be expressed through incarceration,” Ireland said. “It’s usual, but it’s not mandatory.

“Denunciation and conditional sentencing are not mutually exclusive,” he said. “I think it can and ought to happen here.”

A number of factors made Mumby a good candidate for a conditional sentence, Ireland argued, including glowing reports from his former employers and strong support from his family. Mumby’s parents had travelled from Ontario for the proceedings and were in the court room, along with several other family members and friends.

They as well as Mumby had already been shamed and his criminal activities denounced through a prominent report in the November 3 issue of the Fitzhugh, Ireland said.

“That newspaper article goes a long, long way towards that denunciation.”

Despite this very public humiliation, Ireland said his client was willing to serve any conditional sentence in Jasper.

“He is prepared to stay in this community and take his lumps,” he said.

Beyond the personal and familial, Ireland also cited several court decisions from Alberta and other jurisdictions in which much larger sums of money were involved and conditional sentences were applied. Ireland also used previous cases to illustrate that Mumby should not serve extended time considering the amount of money involved in his crimes.

Ireland discussed a case in which a $16 million fraud led to 88 months in jail. Using that formula, Mumby would be in line to serve 2.5 days behind bars.

“I don’t want to make a mockery of this, but it is important to consider,” Ireland said.

Norheim was also encouraged to consider that conditional sentences had been controversially given to drug traffickers and violent criminals.

“To the exent that the public pays attention ... they see that other cases are given conditional sentences,” Ireland said. “The public might think that it makes no sense that pushers would be able to get back out on the street and not him (Mumby).”

Mumby, who had spent the past month at the Edmonton Remand Centre, was given a chance to address the court and he reiterated the regret he had expressed last month.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive myself,” he said. “I’ve just gone through the worst month of my life but I’ve never felt as focused on getting my life turned around.

“I don’t want to spend my life in there.”

When it came time for Judge Norheim to deliver his sentence, he acknowledged many of the mitigating factors cited by Ireland and included in the pre-sentencing report, but said he had no choice but to assign jail time.

Taking into account that Mumby had been in custody for one month, Norheim sentenced him to four months for the Lobstick theft and a further three months for the charge involving the Athabasca Hotel. Norheim included a recommendation that Mumby serve in a facility that provides treatment for drug addictions. Mumby had been addicted to cocaine at the time of the thefts, but claimed to have quit cold turkey in April.

“In all likelihood by the time you’re through the program you’ll be entitled to some form of release,” Norheim told him.

After he is released, Mumby will have to pay restitution to the two hotels. He has already sold some of his assets and has approximately $4,000 in a trust account, Ireland told the court.

With the support of his family and his own determination to change his life, Mumby has the conditions in place for rehabilitation, Norheim said.

“It is my hope and expectation that you mean what you said and that you have learned your lesson,” he told Mumby. 

The Mumby family is considering their legal options, including the possibility of an appeal, Ireland said later.