“It’s been a really rough year for me,” she said to Justice Deborah Austin over a phone line from the South West Detention Center near Windsor.
At the time, Phillips was facing a slew of charges, including second-degree murder following the death of a Sarnia shopkeeper in his mid-70s in late August 2020, although she was later cleared of that charge. She was, however, convicted of four more counts of theft that day and expressed a desire to change her ways.
“I’m sorry that I’ve repeated my charges and I’m sorry that we’re here again dealing with all of this,” Phillips said on Oct. 13, 2020. “I hope it’s the last time. I pray that it’s the last time and I’m sorry.”
It turns out it wasn’t the last time as Phillips was caught about two months later with a group of people unloading cargo from one stolen vehicle to another – facts she just admitted to this week in a Sarnia courtroom – but she does appear to be making progress in turning her life around.
Phillips told the same judge she’s left Sarnia and cut ties with people there who were getting her into trouble. In the meantime, she’s focused on spending time with family, working, and staying sober – something she was cautioned about four years ago.
“I moved here after hard times in Sarnia and went for a big change,” she said Wednesday in a virtual Sarnia courtroom. “I have been doing very well since then.”
Those changes are the main reason she’s now under house arrest and not back in jail despite a lengthy related criminal record.
“I count about nine convictions for theft – and a lot of those in recent years,” assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Jones said. “Real jail could be justified.”
Jones instead asked for 30 days of house-and-property arrest followed by another month or two with a curfew due to the changes she’s implemented.
“Ms. Phillips is in a much better place now and we don’t want to derail that by sending her to real jail,” she said to the judge.
Austin agreed.
“It is important for the court system to give you credit for the gains and the positive steps you’ve made and rehabilitation on your own,” she said to Phillips.
Austin shortened the total conditional sentence to 60 days, half under property arrest and half with a curfew. She also can’t contact her co-accused from the latest admitted incident, which was a bit of a bizarre scene. A witness called police around 2:30 am that Monday after seeing a group of suspects in a Michener Road parking lot frantically moving cargo from a rental van to an SUV.
“It included a bunch of boxes filled with socks,” Jones said. “Several thousands of socks.”
After pleading guilty to a pair of charges Wednesday, all other charges against Phillips were withdrawn.
“Ms. Phillips, we wish you well and keep on this good path,” Austin said.