A woman caught squatting a Ponoka apartment has been sentenced to a fine and time already spent in custody will count as time served toward her penalty.
Jennifer Omeasoo, 33, pled guilty to her October 2013 offense of unlawfully entering a house and failing to appear at her hearing.
On Oct. 19 of last year, Ponoka RCMP responded to a complaint of a male and female illegally staying in suite one of an apartment complex. The complainant knew the person who lived in the apartment and knew they were away and that no one should be in there.
RCMP arrived at the suite and found Omeasoo there, heavily intoxicated.
It was discovered both Omeasoo and her male companion had approached the manager of the building and said they had permission from the owner to be in the suite. However, the owner did not know either of them.
As the investigation progressed, it was discovered Omeasoo and the man were meant to be staying in suite two, but due to renovations Omeasoo felt she had permission from the owner of suite two to stay in suite one. The pair stayed there for one night.
On the issue, Omeasoo was scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 7, 2014 but did not show because she had no transportation from Edmonton, where she now resides.
After the incident, Omeasoo was released after being charged but then taken into custody, released after 13 days, then detained once more after failing to appear for a second time on Oct.1, 2014.
By the time of her Oct. 10 sentencing Omeasoo had served two to three weeks and Judge J.B. Mitchell felt that was an appropriate length, along with the $100 fine and victim surcharge fine.