Curtis Wayne Sagmoen was given an absolute discharge after pleading guilty to an alternative offence in a mischief case in Vernon court on Thursday morning.
Originally, Sagmoen was charged with mischief under $5,000 in connection with an incident involving damaged vehicle tires on a rural property near Salmon Arm.
Sagmoen pleaded not guilty to that charge but guilty to mischief causing damage to property.
With Sagmoen having admitted his guilt, a trial was avoided, and with no criminal record, an absolute discharge was the court’s sentencing decision.
The incident took place in July 2017, when a woman drove down a driveway near Salmon River Road to which Sagmoen had access.
A spike belt – a wooden board painted a dark colour with nails in it – was on the driveway, and the vehicle’s tires were damaged as the woman unknowingly drove over it.
Sagmoen admitted he knew the spike belt was there and that the woman was using the driverway, but he did not warn the woman about it.
The tires were repaired by Kal-Tire. The woman’s name is covered by a publication ban.
Sagmoen came to public attention after the remains of a missing Vernon teenager were found during a 2017 search of a Salmon River Road property owned by his parents.
The 38-year-old man is not facing any charges in connection with the death of 18-year-old Traci Genereaux.
No charges have yet been laid against anyone in connection with her death.
However, in addition to the mischief case that was in court on Thursday, the north Okanagan man faces a series of other charges that are currently making their way through the courts.
Sagmoen is facing eight charges for offences alleged to have occurred in August and September 2017. He is accused of recklessly discharging a firearm, pointing a firearm and uttering a threat, among other things.
Those charges stem from an incident in which police said a woman used a website frequented by sex trade workers to arrange a meeting with a man near Salmon River Road.
However, when she got there police say a man took out a firearm and threatened her. The woman was not hurt in the incident.
Sagmoen is also accused of possessing methamphetamine.
In a separate case, Sagmoen is facing two assault charges involving two other alleged victims. Those assaults are alleged to have taken place in the summer or late spring of 2017.
Sagmoen is due back in court in Vernon in January to fix a date for trial on those two matters.
Meanwhile, he is due in court in the Lower Mainland in February 2019 for trial on a charge of assault causing bodily harm that is alleged to have occurred in Maple Ridge in January 2013.