Sarnia woman jailed for hotel break-in gets time-served sentence

Both people charged after a break-in at a hotel room in downtown Sarnia earlier this summer have now been sentenced.

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Shea Elliott, 48, got eight months in jail in October while Shayla McLellan, 33, recently received about 3.5 months for breaking and entering into a room at the Insignia Hotel on June 19 and stealing several items.

They were caught on security footage using a lost key card to enter a room, police said at the time. They left with wireless earphones, headphones, a laptop, power bar, makeup and toiletries bags, keys to a rental car, a backpack, and a handbag. Elliott and McLellan were seen on video surveillance throughout the building and the parking lot before going across the street to Kenwick Place, where Elliott was living at the time.

“That’s a person she should never be associated with. It can only lead to problems,” McLellan’s lawyer, Robert McFadden, said during his client’s sentencing. “I think she’s found that out.”

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During Elliott’s sentencing, his lawyer, Joseph Stoesser, said there has long been concerns about his client’s mental health, which has been exacerbated by drug use including cocaine, crystal meth and opioids.

His mental health also was a focus of the court when he was sentenced in January 2016 for assaulting his landlord and he showed strange behavior again when he was caught with drugs outside the Point Edward casino a few months later.

As for McLellan, McFadden pointed out this was her first taste of jail, which has been a real eye-opener. But she also was looking much healthier after not using street drugs while spending 105 days behind bars.

“It’s hard to even recognize her as the same woman when you look over there,” he said.

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Justice Mark Poland recalled she was in his courtroom in March and it was clear then things were going downhill.

“Regrettably that slide continued,” he said.

Along with the hotel break-in, McLellan pleaded guilty to other charges linked to thefts from parked cars in May and July and from the Real Canadian Superstore in July.

Assistant Crown attorney Amir Hage initially asked for nine months in jail, which would have left McLellan with nearly six months left to serve. He said time served wasn’t enough as she’s shown a complete disregard for other people’s property.

But after hearing more about her background from McFadden, he changed his mind and agreed to suggest a time-served sentence.

“I’ll be joining my friend,” he said.

Poland commended Hage for being flexible and showing discretion and said time served was the right sentence. The judge added 1.5 years of probation banning McLellan from talking to five people, including Elliott, and from going to several places including the hotel.

“Ms. McLellan, the hard work starts today. Good luck to you,” he said of dealing with her drug addiction.

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