A six-month jail term was handed to Estevan resident Evan Kyle Kallis during last Thursday's provincial court proceedings.
Kallis pleaded guilty to all the charges he was facing, which included break and enter, theft, intimidation for brandishing a weapon and possessing marijuana, while a number of other charges were stayed by the Crown. He also pleaded guilty to a number of breaches of conditions he was under from a previous court order. The Crown proceeded by indictment to a break-and-enter charge as well as to the intimidation charge.
Kallis was represented by Legal Aid lawyer Robert Grimsrud, who noted that his client previously served about 30 days in jail in 2010 and about six months earlier this year. The 21-year-old's criminal record dates back to his youth.
Kallis was arrested on Nov. 20 for the most recent break-and-enter charges and theft and has been on remand since.
Crown prosecutor Mitch Crumley told the court Kallis was checking out vehicles on the street when he decided to enter a house on 16th Avenue in Estevan. He took a purse and heard some people in the home so he fled. Finding keys in the purse, he got into the victim's SUV and drove off.
The vehicle was located through the OnStar system, and when police found the vehicle with minor damage, they followed the footprints in the snow to track down Kallis.
The other break and enter stems from an incident on Nov. 18 when Kallis attempted to get into the manager's office of the Uptown Motel.
Crumley said Kallis was attempting to pry his way into the office with a knife when the manager found him in the act and attempted to stop him. He explained there was a struggle, the manager called for help and then "the accused reacted with the knife."
The prosecutor said the manager thought it was an attempted stab but suggested it was more of a brandishing of the weapon.
"The complainant feels intimidated by it," added Crumley. "The manager believed he was in danger."
Kallis then fled the scene on foot. Crumley said Kallis doesn't have a lot of respect for the justice system and said his crimes are worthy of further incarceration.
Grimsrud said the break-in at the hotel office was drug related. He noted that Kallis has struggled with drugs for some time. Kallis was "strung out" on cocaine and looking for money, said Grimsrud.
"I have a problem with drugs," Kallis told presiding Judge James Benison. "I didn't know what I was doing that night (at the hotel)."
Benison took little time to come to his decision on sentence.
"You appear to be on the way to becoming a career criminal unless something in your life stops that process," said Benison told Kallis. "The public is required to have some protection, and I'm sending that message to you. This sentence is to deter you from committing further crimes."
He said his crimes were too serious to not require imprisonment. Kallis was sentenced to three months for one break and enter and theft of the vehicle, followed by another three for the second. He also received three months concurrent for the three breach convictions and one month concurrent for marijuana possession.
