Court Briefs: Not guilty plea entered in arson case

By Medicine Hat News on September 6, 2024.

@MedicineHatNews

A Hat man accused of starting a fire to collect an insurance settlement has pleaded not guilty to the charge and may have a trial date determined later this month.

Court of Justice at Medicine Hat heard Thursday that a Crown prosecutor based in Red Deer is handling the prosecution of Keith Leonard Knight, 77, and will proceed with the charge on an indictable basis.

Defence council Lyndon Heidinger told court he expects to determine a venue for trial in coming weeks and whether to proceed by judge alone or jury. He will advance the matter when it returns to docket court on Sept. 26, potentially to schedule trial dates.

On Aug. 14, 2023, fire badly damaged a restaurant at a commercial strip on the 500 block of Rutherford Street in Crescent Heights.

Police charged Knight on May 1 with one count of arson for a fraudulent purpose.

Smokes seized

A man caught with 167 cartons of cigarettes last spring will pay a $5,000 fine after court was told the accused was on a limited income and sold unstamped tobacco to help pay for his own “two-pack-a-day” habit.

“It was a way to save himself some money, and in the end it’s going to cost him a lot of money,” said Lyndon Heidinger, the defence attorney for David Allan Kelley.

The 68-year-old was fined $5,000 on a recommendation from prosecutors. A charge of fraud over $5,000 was withdrawn by the Crown, as was a provincial Tobacco Tax Act charge against the man’s common law wife of 37 years.

Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis investigators say they received a tip in February this year and then began surveilling Kelley’s residence in April.

After they witnessed the man deliver a carton of cigarettes to another residence, a search warrant of a detached garage and vehicle found three large boxes of cigarettes, valued at $30,000, on which taxation of $10,020 would be due.

Justice Mark Mastel said selling smokes might seem harmless, but making “a quick buck” has a cost to society.

“It should deter him and others from evading tax, which is collected for public benefit, not an individual’s benefit,” he said.

The man is currently out of work after a career driving transport trucks in the oil patch and has little income. He was provided until the spring of 2025 to make arrangements to pay the fine.

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