PENTICTON, B.C. — An Osoyoos man who is charged with fraud and theft from the Osoyoos Rural Fire Protection District (ORFPD) has been sentenced.
Michael McWhinnie appeared in Penticton court Monday.
Judge Gregory Koturbash handed him a conditional sentence of 12 months, which he can serve in the community with several conditions, including house arrest for the first six months.
Judge Koturbash also ordered him to pay a $600 restitution and $100 victim surcharge.
In a bizarre coincidence, the 67-year-old’s home burned to the ground in June, while he faced charges of stealing more than $40,000 from the fire department. The same one whose crews fought to save is home.
McWhinnie, a retired elementary school teacher who taught in Osoyoos for over 30 years, pleaded guilty theft over $5,000 from the ORFPD this morning. Last spring, he pleaded guilty to both his charges.
McWhinnie is also a former secretary-treasurer of the fire district board. During that time, there were several cheques cashed at the credit union by McWhinnie, for himself according to the judge.
The cheques amounted to between $550 and $2,000 each with a total of over $41,000 removed from the account.
There were nearly 50 cheques written and cashed between Jan. 2 – Oct. 1, 2013.
The Crown counsel says it’s unclear why he committed these acts of theft suggesting gambling or alcohol issues could have been factors.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from a motor-vehicle accident, depression were also mentioned during the sentencing hearing by Crown counsel as possible motivating factors.
However, it is still unclear what lead McWhinnie to behave the way he did, not even he understands his own behaviors.
“I don’t think anyone in here can match my record for community service,” says McWhinnie. “I certainly take full responsibility and I apologize.”
McWhinnie has gone on the record saying he has battled with depression most of his adult life.
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