Two men being sentenced on charges in connection to a treaty land entitlement fraud case on Mosquito First Nation may not know their sentence until December.
Eldon Starchief and Alphonse Moosomin, both of whom pled guilty to breach of trust charges, were back in provincial court Monday morning before Judge Violet Meekma. Both are waiting to hear their final sentences in the case.
However, Meekma adjourned the matters to Nov. 30 at 9 a.m., to allow for further submissions to be filed. Meekma wanted to find out more about the impact on the community and the delay would allow further victim impact statements to be filed.
At least one victim impact statement has been filed as of Monday: that of Robert Armstrong, the whistleblower who informed the RCMP about alleged misspending of Treaty Land Entitlement money held in trust by Mosquito First Nation trustees.
Starchief and Moosomin both served as trustees of the Mosquito First Nation fund and are among five people charged in the case. The misspending is alleged to have taken place between 2001and 2003.
Judge Meekma also indicated at Monday's court appearance that she was not likely to rule on sentence Nov. 30, which would allow counsel to give further submissions. She indicated she wanted to have a final ruling by December at the latest.
Still at issue is the range of the sentence to be imposed. The Crown had previously asked for prison sentences of two-and-a-half years plus a restitution order during sentencing submissions before Judge Meekma in October. Defence lawyers continue to call for shorter conditional sentences that could be served in the community.
