Jail is required for convicted Calgary conman Dave Guylenz Mitchell Beauvais, a city judge ruled Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Calgary Court of King\u2019s Bench Justice Darren Reed agreed with Crown prosecutor Greg Whiteside that the community-based conditional sentence sought by defence lawyer Funda Mutlay wouldn\u2019t adequately punish her client.<\/p>\n
Instead, Reed sentenced Beauvais, who has since relocated to Ottawa, to 28 months in a federal penitentiary. Whiteside had proposed a 30-month term.<\/p>\n
In seeking that punishment during sentencing submissions in April, Whiteside argued schemes like the one perpetrated by Beauvais take advantage of the anonymity of the internet and require deterrence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe forms and means of fraud are proliferating in society,\u201d he told Reed.<\/p>\n
Whiteside said much of Beauvais\u2019 scamming occurred during the pandemic, when even more business was pushed online.<\/p>\n
Beauvais\u2019 sentencing decision was delayed to allow him to travel to Calgary from Ottawa. During sentencing submissions the offender appeared via video link from the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
Mutlay had sought a conditional sentence, saying such a term could still meet the goals of general deterrence and denunciation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIncarceration is not the only mechanism through which those objectives can be met,\u201d she said, in proposing 12 months of house arrest as part of a two-year conditional term.<\/p>\n
\u201cA custodial sentence here would add little to deterrence,\u201d Mutlay told Reed.<\/p>\n
Beauvais, 39, pleaded guilty last fall<\/a> to charges of fraud and uttering forged documents for a scheme that used phony passports, driver\u2019s licences and social insurance cards to make false claims for loans from Alberta Student Aid programs.<\/p>\n Fraudsters collected personal information of individuals and forged documents used to make student loan applications and open bank accounts to receive disbursements.<\/p>\n Loans to 15 different named individuals whose identities were stolen were approved, totaling more than a half-million dollars, although just under $200,000 was actually disbursed.<\/p>\n Mutlay told court her client was experiencing instability and homelessness in his life and was desperate to make ends meet at the time.<\/p>\n Reed found the fact Beauvais\u2019 crimes involved identity theft made them more aggravating than fraud offences involving employee theft.<\/p>\n \u201cCourts seem more inclined to grant CSOs in the latter than the former. I find this is due to the more egregious nature of identity theft,\u201d Reed said.<\/p>\n