Court Briefs: Ex-news man accused in bank robberies has local matters heard again Thursday
By Jeremy Appel on August 24, 2018.
Photo courtesy MHPS Stephen Vogelsang is seen in this screengrab from security camera footage on Oct. 19, 2017. Vogelsang, charged with multiple counts of robbery in Medicine Hat and Saskatchewan, was not in court as his local matters were heard on Aug. 23, 2018.
jappel@medicinehatnews.com @MHNJeremyAppel An ex-news reporter and journalism instructor who was arrested for a string of bank robberies in Saskatchewan and Alberta had his matters heard Thursday at Medicine Hat Provincial Court. Stephen Vogelsang, 54, didn’t appear himself, as he is currently in remand in Regina. The accused was arrested on robbery charges in fall 2017 after a string of six holdups in Medicine Hat, Regina and Saskatoon between July and October that year. At his previous court appearance, Vogelsang pled guilty to four unrelated breaches of a protection order after he attempted to contact his ex-girlfriend in Winnipeg in Aug. 2017. For that offence he was ordered to pay $800 in fines. In an earlier court appearance in Medicine Hat, Vogelsang elected trial by judge and jury for the robberies occurring in that city. His preliminary inquiry for the robbery charges is scheduled for Nov. 27. Drug dealer gets two years On Wednesday, a man accused of trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine was sentenced to two years in prison. Chance Newell appeared in person, along with defence lawyer Ali Aziz, who was acting as agent for Newell’s counsel of record, Greg White. Newell was also given a $200 fine per charge with no time to pay, so he will spend an extra two days per charge in prison. He was also given a minimum 10-year firearm ban. The accused faced six charges in total — three counts of trafficking cocaine, one of trafficking methamphetamine, one of possessing cocaine for the purposes of trafficking and one of possessing the proceeds of a crime. The latter two charges were withdrawn. 16
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