Break and enters result in five months of incarceration

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on December 20, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A Lethbridge man who broke into a hotel and stole liquor and junk food that was going to be thrown away, has received a five-month jail sentence.

Eric Joel Michaud was sentenced Monday in Lethbridge provincial court, after he changed pleas from not guilty to guilty on two charges of break and enter and a single charge of failing to comply with release conditions.

Court was told that on Dec. 29 of last year Michaud broke into a hotel, which was closed for renovations, and stole about 40 bottles of alcohol. Afterward, while Michaud was outside behind the hotel, a police officer apprehended him with the stolen alcohol and a backpack full of stolen chips and candy bars.

“The officer was told when he informed the bar owner…that all that material was slated to be destroyed,” Crown Prosecutor Clayton Giles said.

The following February Michaud was caught again after breaking into the fenced compound belonging to the Mennonite Central Committee Thrift Shop on the northside. Police who were driving by the business saw Michaud inside the fenced area, from which he intended to steal bottles and other recyclables.

After Michaud was released on bail he was ordered not to possess any drugs, but on Nov. 30 during a police traffic stop, Michaud was arrested on outstanding warrants and was caught with small amounts of fentanyl and methamphetamine.

Although sentenced to five months in jail, Michaud was credited for 111 days spent in pre-trial custody, leaving him with 39 days to serve. Additional charges of drug possession and escape lawful custody were withdrawn.

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