A St. Albert man who stole an armful of Alberta beef to fuel a drug habit now has four months to come up with a fine.
Kyle Robert Norgard, 38, pleaded guilty to theft under $5,000 for a Sept. 12, 2010 incident that saw him trying to get out of a St. Albert Safeway with a shopping bin full with product from the store’s meat department.
Crown prosecutor John Donahoe explained Norgard made it to the parking lot with six roasts valued at about $200, and ran after he made it past the checkout.
He was caught outside, leading to his arrest.
Donahoe commented the price of the stolen meat was “a sign of the times.”
But Norgard’s crime was part of an “unfortunate relapse” into drug addiction. He has two more recent additions on his criminal record, from October and November 2010, which Donahoe said were of a similar nature. Before those he’d had a clean record dating back to 2004.
“He had been abstinent and doing well away from the drugs,” said Don MacPherson, defence attorney. “He had a very significant gap in his record.”
“It seems as though he’s back on the right track,” noted Donahoe, who said fines would be an appropriate penalty.
MacPherson agreed and Judge Bruce Garriock went along with the joint submission for $750 to be paid in four months’ time.
