The former secretary of the British Columbia legislature received his conviction Friday in a Vancouver court for breach of trust for improper purchase of publicly funded clothing.
Craig James has been sentenced to a three-month probation order.
He will serve one month under house arrest. In months two and three, James has a curfew overnight from 9pm to 6am and will also have to pay $ 1,886.72 on a refund order, which is the amount for the clothes he she misrepresented herself as work clothes.
James will also pay a $ 200 fine surcharge for the victims. “Conditional dismissal would be contrary to the public interest and would not adequately denounce the conduct or deter others,” Judge Heather Holmes said.
Read more: Craig James, former secretary of the BC legislature, will be convicted on July 8th
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Craig James was found guilty in May, while BC Supreme Court Associate President Heather Holmes also ruled that he was not guilty of three other charges, including one related to a $ 258,000 retirement benefit.
Delivering a verdict on Friday, Holmes said that while James violated public confidence “in his own heart,” mitigating factors included the low value of the dollar involved and the “scathing media coverage” he faced.
Crown Attorney Brock Martland previously argued that James should be jailed for a year or serve a house arrest sentence and also pay a $ 1,886 restitution.
He said such a ruling would constitute an “unequivocal complaint” from the court and deter future officials from spending public money badly.
Read more: Craig James Trial: BC Secretary Says She Did Not See Justification for Predecessor’s Retirement Benefit
Defense attorney Gavin Cameron asked the court to give James 12 months probation and a conditional sentence.
Cameron said James has faced stigma because of media coverage and was “tried and convicted in public opinion court” long before the court determines a verdict.
Former legislature Darryl Plecas, whose investigation uncovered the allegations against James, said a prison sentence would have sent a stronger message, but he understood where the judge was coming from. “He’s someone who lost his lifetime appointment and the $ 357,000 a year that was with that,” he said.
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103-114 “I think it will probably be very difficult for him to get some kind of job, otherwise it would look like the one he had before, especially now that he has a criminal record.”
1:32 The sentence of the former secretary of the BC legislature begins The sentence of the former secretary of the BC legislature begins
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