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Woman with fentanyl addiction caught stealing makeup

A woman dealing with a fentanyl addiction and caught with $600 worth of stolen makeup in her purse received a 15-day sentence for her crime. Speaking to the court from prison via closed-circuit television, Michelle R.

A woman dealing with a fentanyl addiction and caught with $600 worth of stolen makeup in her purse received a 15-day sentence for her crime.

Speaking to the court from prison via closed-circuit television, Michelle R. Wasylucha pleaded guilty to one count of shoplifting and two counts of failing to appear at a scheduled court date.

Facundo said that on Feb. 20, 2016, Athabasca RCMP were called to Tipton’s Independent Grocer to deal with a shoplifter. Court heard that a store employee had watched Wasylucha place makeup in her purse and walk out of the store. Facundo said the defendant was then approached outside of the shop and admitted to shoplifting. About $600 worth of makeup was found in her purse.

She then missed two court dates related to the offenses.

Facundo said that at the time of the offense, Wasylucha had no other criminal record. He also said given the high amount of makeup stolen, he was suggesting a $1,000 fine, which was a joint submission with the defense. He also recommended seven-day prison sentences for each of the other two charges, for a total of 14 days.

Defense counsel Richard Forbes said Wasylucha calls Athabasca home, and the incident occurred around the start of her problems with fentanyl. He also said she was looking forward to continuing her relationship with family in town and the people at the local health unit.

Judge Purvis questioned how she provided for herself financially, and she said she was on AISH.

“I know this is a joint submission, but we take money from AISH to pay a fine? That doesn’t make sense to me,” he said.

He then sentenced Wasylucha to one day in prison for the shoplifting charge and 15 days per failure-to-appear charge, to be served concurrently. As she had spent eight days in prison already along with around 10 days this past winter, Purvis deemed her sentence served in its entirety. He also handed her a $100 victim fine surcharge per charge, which was deemed served by her presence in the courtroom that day.

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