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Ignoring conditions ends in jail

Woman who decided to go her own way has wound up with a jail sentence

A woman who chose to go her own path and not to follow court ordered conditions received a term behind bars.

Amanda Fox, 33 from Red Deer, pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to comply with release conditions and one count of failure to appear in court at an appearance Friday, Feb. 12 in Ponoka Provincial Court. Fox was sentenced to a total of 15 days on each of the first two counts and seven days in jail for the other count.

Back on Apr. 24 last year, Fox was arrested along with a male in the parking lot of the Ponoka McDonalds after RCMP noticed the pair were in a stolen pickup truck.

Numerous stolen items - including a shotgun and other weapons - as well as a quantity of drugs were located in the vehicle. Fox admitted to have consumed meth and was also on a court order not to be in contact with the male, plus she was on a 24-hour curfew at a residence in Red Deer.

The original court ordered conditions stemmed from a conviction on weapons possessions and drug trafficking charges.

The failure to appear in court occurred when Fox didn’t show up for a Sept. 4, 2015 trial date on the original set of charges - which has previously included 11 other counts.

Fox, who appeared via closed-circuit television from the Lethbridge Correctional Centre where she is serving time on other charges, will have no time to serve as a result of her conviction on these charges as she has already served more than enough time in jail awaiting a conclusion to this case.

Thefts earn fines, jail

Three individuals that entered guilty pleas for thefts each received a variety of sentences.

Conroy Yellowbird, 25, of the Samson First Nation, pleaded guilty to one count of theft under $5,000 for taking two bottles of liquor from a Ponoka store in July of last year. An RCMP officer recognized an updated photo from the theft in October as Yellowbird and he was arrested. He was handed nine days in jail and given credit for time served, as he had spent six days in custody already.

Ty Firingstoney, 19, from the Montana First Nation, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft as well as one count each of failure to appear and driving while suspended, which resulted in a six-day jail sentence - amounting to time served - along with almost $1,200 in fines. Earlier in 2015, Firingstoney was among a pair of suspects that stole bottles of liquor twice in the span of a month from a local store. He was also stopped by police last October driving when he was found to have had his licence suspended by the province. It wasn’t until recently that he was identified as taking part in the thefts.

Colleen Johnson, 43, of the Ermineskin First Nation, admitted guilts of theft and obstructing a police officer after being arrested for taking a bottle of perfume from the Ponoka Shoppers Drug Mart on Friday, Feb. 5. Her lawyer told the court Johnson had been in town for a doctor appointment and didn’t have money for a ride home, and unfortunately took a suggestion from someone that they would accept the item as payment for a ride. Johnson then made another poor decision by briefly trying to give police a different name when she was arrested. However, officers quickly discovered her real identity along with the numerous outstanding warrants in her name. She was sentenced to 10 days jail - equalling time served after getting credit for 12 days.

Hefty fine

A 30 year-old woman distraught over a recent breakup is now paying for a bad choice.

Chastity Bull, now of Edmonton, pleaded guilty to driving with a blood alcohol level over 0.08 and was fined more than $1,600 along with being banned from driving for one year.

Police responded to a complaint on Jan. 3 at about 3:30 a.m. about customers leaving McDonalds without paying and officers were able to pull over the suspect vehicle a short time later as it headed west on Highway 53.

Bull, who was driving, admitted the group didn’t pay and also stated she’d had a few drinks that evening. Testing would show Bull had more than double the legal limit of alcohol in her blood.