Despite an impassioned plea by a defense lawyer, an Ontario Court judge declined to give a community sentence to a woman who already had broken the conditions of two such sentences.
Instead, Justice Robert Gee gave Justine Montour, 28, of Six Nations of the Grand River credit for already serving the equivalent of 223 days in custody and sentenced her to another year in jail.
He also ordered her to serve a one-year probation when released and prohibited her from driving for five years.
Last fall, Montour pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of stolen property, dangerous driving and driving while prohibited.
In seeking a conditional sentence for her client, lawyer Alison MacDonald told the judge that Montour has changed.
“The offender you see before you today is not the same person she was,” said MacDonald.
“She finally hit rock bottom and got some insight into her issues.”
But Gee was unconvinced, saying he believed Montour’s Gladue report, a type of presentence report ordered for Indigenous offenders, would be similar to her her past ones.
“Wouldn’t the (other) Gladue reports say the same? ‘I’ve learned my lesson. This time is different.’,” said Gee.
“She must have told the judge she had seen the light and was willing to change her ways or she wouldn’t have got a condition sentence before.”
In October 2021, Montour was sentenced after pleading guilty to two counts of breaking and entering, possession of stolen property both over and under $5,000, two counts of arson, theft of a vehicle and three counts of breach of probation.
Justice Gethin Edward gave Montour credit for already serving 16 months in jail and placed her on her second conditional sentence of a year, which included some house arrest.
But, around the same time, Montour was charged with another dozen offences, which ended her conditional sentence, sending her to serve the rest of the term in jail.
MacDonald admitted her client doesn’t have a “good track record” and she is a “high risk of re-offending” but still urged the judge to grant a conditional sentence.
Montour admitted that, in the past, she had told the court things that would help her get released.
“I wasn’t ready before to get the help I needed but today I am. I’m not the person that I used to be.”
The judge said he sympathized with Montour’s history, which includes a traumatic childhood, abuse and the deaths of her mother and her youngest child.
“You’ve suffered a lot of trauma in your life that’s been untreated and unresolved,” said Gee.
“I’m really sympathetic to you and hope you’re telling me the truth and I hope that this time is different … but I can’t take that risk.”
The judge had a warning for Montour.
“You gotta stop the drugs,” he said.
“If you can’t change, at some point the Gladue factors are not going to help you.”