REGINA – A man well-known to police for stealing mail, forging documents, and identity theft was sentenced today in Regina Provincial Court.
In total, Brad Michael Waselenchuk, 43, is estimated to have had in his possession approximately “30 to 40” pieces of false identification documents - in addition to several pieces of ID that he had simply stolen.
Details presented by the Crown included accounts of Waselenchuk breaking into mailboxes and stealing mail, and how he used information to gain credit cards then wracking up thousands of dollars in purchases. Many times, he was observed on surveillance cameras, with positive identification made by police from the footage.
Court also heard examples of Waselenchuk using stolen credit cards to purchase items. The spree occurred between February and May, 2022 - culminating with Waselenchuk’s arrest on May 10 of last year. That same day, the hotel room where Waselenchuk was staying plus the vehicle he was driving were searched. Police discovered items from 33 difference addresses, among them 12 Saskatchewan licences, 31 health cards, 11 Permanent Resident cards, a work permit, and several Indian Status cards. many forged identification documents were found with Wasenchuk’s image in place of the actual person they were issued to. In total, police seized 416 items from the search.
The Federal Crown also noted on the day of Waselenchuk’s arrest, he had in his possession a backpack containing bear spray, cocaine, crack, meth, a scale, and associated drug paraphernalia. He was also transported to hospital where an x-ray revealed two containers in his rectum filled with packages of cocaine, morphine, Xanax pills, fentanyl, and meth - a sign that Waselenchuk knew he was heading back to jail when caught.
His record was presented to the Court, listing some 129 previous convictions between 1998 and 2019. During that time, Waselenchuk served time for similar convictions as the charges before him on April 28, including fraud, identity theft, break and enter,and forged documents.
In their submissions, the Crown noted Waselenchuk was “in possession of a significant amount of personal information that compromised many members of our community.” The magnitude and complexity of this fraudulent activity, the large number of victims involved, and the fact that Waselenchuk was on statutory release at the time of the offences were aggravating factors, the Crown posed.
When Waselenchuk was placed back behind bars, it was the continuation of this previous sentence, however, enhanced credit for time spent in solitary confinement (66 days) was granted. In a joint submission between the Crown and defence lawyers, a global sentence of seven years less the 66 enhanced days was proposed.
Court also heard Waselenchuk struggled with addiction, and had planned to enter into treatment at one point. He started stealing cars at age 10, but soon became interested with technology - ultimately using those skills in a nefarious manner.
Judge M.T. Beaton was astonished at the information before her.
“You need to be removed from society because you are causing turmoil to everyone when you are out,” she told Waselenchuk while handing down the sentence. Agreeing with the joint submission before her, Judge Beaton sentenced Waselenchuk to 2,489 days in custody - waiving the Victim Fine Surcharge given the length of the sentence.
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