Accused in gang-style beating sentenced

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on February 8, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A 34-year-old Lethbridge man who orchestrated a gang-style beating of another man in 2020, has been sentenced to nearly a year and a half in jail.
Corey Nelson Amyotte was charged with several offences following the attack, including aggravated assault, but he pleaded guilty Monday in Lethbridge provincial court to a single count of assault with a weapon, and was sentenced to slightly more than 17 months in jail. Charges of aggravated assault, disguised with intent, and failure to comply with release conditions, were withdrawn.
During the early morning hours of Sept. 25, 2020, Amyotte recruited several men to help him attack Curtis Carbert, with whom Amyotte had previous conflicts. The men went to a westside trailer court and found their victim as he was returning from a walk with his dog. Amyotte and Carbert began fighting, during which Amyotte stabbed him in the eye and face with a knife. Carbert fell to the ground and Amyotte and the others fled.
Court was told there was a considerable amount of quid pro quo by Defence and the Crown as they worked to resolve the charges and present the judge with a joint recommendation for sentencing.
Crown prosecutor Clayton Giles said even though the attack was caught on video surveillance, the images were not clear enough to identify the assailants.
“Sure you could tell what happened, but you couldn’t really tell who was doing what,” Giles said.
In addition, the victim’s co-operation had the case gone to trial was uncertain.
Amyotte, who was in custody and attended court by telephone, said he moved to Lethbridge from Manitoba 11 years ago and became addicted to opioids. His lawyer noted Amyotte’s mother was also addicted to drugs and alcohol when Amyotte was a child, and he ended up in foster homes when he was between the ages of 12 and 16. He was also involved in gang activity when he lived in Winnipeg, which, his lawyer suggested, is not the kind of culture that sets up an individual to succeed in life.
Amyotte said he has been involved in sweat lodges and sharing circles and wants to continue counselling and treatment, then get an education so he can help others struggling with addictions.
“Essentially I just want to clean my life up and go back to school and help people that were in my shoes and try to steer them away from all the trouble I’ve been through,” he told the judge.
In addition to his jail sentence, for which he was given full credit for time he has already spent in remand custody, Amyotte will be on probation for one year, during which he must abstain from alcohol and drugs, take counselling and treatment as directed, reside where approved by his probation officer, and avoid any contact with the other individuals involved in the attack. He is also prohibited for life from possessing weapons, and he must submit a sample of his DNA for the National DNA Databank.

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