UPDATE: Curtis Sagmoen was sentenced to two years less a day on Friday, but will not serve any jail time, having spent more than that while behind bars awaiting trial.
Following a joint submission from Crown and defence, Madame Justice Alison Beames sentenced Sagmoen to 1 year, 11 months and 29 days – commonly called two years less a day.
Prior to Friday, Sagmoen spent two years and two months in jail. With time earned, his jail term amounted to more than three years.
Beames also handed him 36 months of probation, along with many conditions.
Sagmoen’s many probation terms include:
- No contact of any kind with sex workers
- No firearms or ammunition for 10 years
- Keep the peace and be of good behaviour
- Must not contact ‘Witness A’
- Must not go within 50 metres of ‘Witness A’s’ home, work or school
- Cannot leave B.C. without approval from a probation officer
Court noted that Sagmoen could have been handed a longer jail term – two-and-a-half years – but if that path would have been followed, there would have been no probation.
Sagmoen was granted bail and is facing an assault charge that will go to court in February.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Curtis Sagmoen has been found guilty in his B.C. Supreme Court trial in Vernon.
On Friday, Madame Justice Alison Beames delivered her verdict, stating Sagmoen was guilty of wearing a disguise with intent to commit an offence and use of a firearm during an offence.
Earlier, Sagmoen had pled guilty to possession of meth, which was found when he was arrested.
The charges stem from an incident in the North Okanagan in 2017, in which a woman claimed he pointed a gun at her.
The woman, whose identity is covered by a publication ban, told court she drove to a rural address where the incident unfolded.
Beames said she was satisfied that the Crown was able to prove without a reasonable doubt that Sagmoen wore a disguise and brandished a shotgun when he jumped out of the bushes to greet an escort he had invited to meet him.
Originally, Sagmoen had been charged with five counts, but he was found not guilty of intentionally discharging a firearm, while the uttering threats charged was dropped by Beames.
On Tuesday, the woman took the stand in the lengthy case and told court she had placed an online ad for “companionship services,” and received text messages asking for a “play date” for a few hours.
She described driving to a rural address where she had been told to expect a long driveway, and speeding down the lane because she felt like she was running late.
The complainant told the court she came to a gate and got out of the vehicle to push on it, when she “heard all this rustling in the bushes” and knew something wasn’t right.
The woman said she ran back to her car and got inside, but that her window was down. At the same time, she said she saw someone pointing a gun at her, which scared her.
The woman said she didn’t hear the gun go off, but that she pushed the gun away, then began backing up her vehicle. She said she felt her vehicle crash, prompting her to flee on foot, losing her sandals in the process.
During cross-examination, the woman contradicted her earlier testimony and agreed that the gun had not been pointed at her.
On Wednesday, Beames acquitted Sagmoen of uttering threats, with Sagmoen pleading guilty to possession of meth.
During closing arguments that day, the Crown argued that while most of the evidence was circumstantial, it believed the details pointed to Sagmoen being the one responsible for the crimes.
The defence argued that the evidence was circumstantial, including no physical evidence that could connect Sagmoen to being the suspect, which left room for reasonable doubt.
— With files from Megan Turcato and Darrian Matassa-Fung.