One of two people charged after a downtown Sarnia hotel room break-in this summer has been sentenced to eight months in jail.
One of two people charged after a downtown Sarnia hotel room break-in this summer has been sentenced to eight months in jail.
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A man and a woman were caught on security footage using a lost key card to enter a hotel room June 19, Sarnia police said at the time. They left with AirPods, headphones, a laptop, power bank, makeup and toiletries bag, backpack, Coach bag and keys to a vehicle.
Shea Elliott, 48, and Shayla McLennan, 33, were charged with breaking and entering and failing to comply with a probation order, police said.
Elliott pleaded guilty recently in a Sarnia court to several counts, including break, enter and theft linked to the hotel room incident, and was handed an eight-month sentence.
Court heard the break-in was at The Insignia Hotel on Christina Street North, where Elliott and a second person were seen on video surveillance throughout the building and parking lot before crossing the street to Kenwick Place.
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“Where Mr. Elliott resides,” assistant Crown attorney Nicole Godfrey said.
Elliott also pleaded guilty to fraud worth less than $5,000, having his face masked with intent, possessing stolen property worth less than $5,000, and uttering a death threat via email, linked to a series of crimes between January 2022 and June 2024.
Elliott and two others sold valuable gaming cards, stolen from a Sarnia store, to a London business, court heard.
Elliott also used a credit card, taken from a car stolen from a Newell Street home, at an Indian Road North gas station multiple times, court heard. Though masked, Elliott was recognized on video surveillance by an officer who’d dealt with him earlier that day,
And Elliott repeatedly emailed death threats to his Ontario Disability Support Program case worker after being denied financial requests, court heard.
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Defense lawyer Joseph Stoesser said there has long been concern about his client’s mental health, exacerbated by use of cocaine, crystal meth and opioids.
Elliott’s mental health was a focus of a court which sentenced him in January 2016 for assaulting his landlord. And he showed strange behavior again when caught with drugs outside the Point Edward casino a few months later.
He also has struggled with homelessness, which is reflected on a criminal record that has moved from weapons offenses to property crimes, Stoesser added.
“This is a bit of an evolution,” he said.
Crown and defense both asked that Elliott serve his sentence at the St. Lawrence Valley Correctional and Treatment Center in Brockville, which has a drug rehab program. Justice Mark Poland, calling a pre-sentence report on Elliott’s mental health challenges illuminating, agreed to make the recommendation.
“It’s clear that he needs some help,” he said.
Elliott will be on probation for two years after his release from jail, barring him from several places, including The Insignia Hotel.
McLennan, who faces five sets of charges in Sarnia including ones linked to the hotel room incident, was to appear in court by video link Tuesday for an update on all her cases. The charges against her haven’t been tested in court.
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