A woman who pled guilty to a humiliating robbery-gone-wrong is going to jail.
Arleen Delorme, 38, was sentenced in North Battleford Provincial Court Thursday to three years in a federal penitentiary - two for robbery and one for wearing a disguise - in connection to the May 22 holdup of Vern's Pizza on 100th Street. A firearms prohibition and DNA sample were also ordered.
According to the facts presented in court by Crown prosecutor Jennifer Robertson, Delorme had gone in to Vern's Pizza May 22 around 5:30 p.m. covered with a toque and sunglasses. She left her three children in the car, and went to the front counter, pulled out a small knife and demanded money.
At this point another staffer, a delivery driver, fought back by punching Delorme, knocking her down and grabbing the knife. She was held down by staff and later arrested by police who arrived at the scene.
Delorme's defence lawyer, Will Archer, admitted the robbery was "amateur hour" and called it "one of the most unsophisticated robberies this court has ever seen."
He argued the toque and sunglasses barely covered her face, although Judge J.B.J. Nutting noted that in this case, the disguise worked.
Archer argued for one year plus probation, citing several mitigating factors for Delorme including a limited criminal record, addictions to medications and Delorme's bouts of depression and anxiety attacks. He noted no actual money was removed from the till and that police never located the knife. A pre-sentence report identified Delorme as a medium risk to reoffend.
Robertson, however, had argued for a term of three to three and a half years and submitted case law to back it up.
Judge J.B.J. Nutting went along with the Crown submission, citing the "immense gravity" of the offence and noting pizza places were particularly vulnerable to these sorts of attacks because of their limited staff.
Delorme will receive credit for 60 days of remand time, which means her sentence will run a remaining 34 months in a federal penitentiary.
