A Red Deer man was sentenced to 60 days in jail on Thursday for his part in stealing a big-screen TV from London Drugs last summer.
Jason Cody Taylor, 27, pleaded guilty to theft under $5,000, failing to attend court and breaching conditions of release in Red Deer provincial court.
Crown prosecutor Maurice Collard said Taylor and another man went to the Red Deer London Drugs on Aug. 20 and grabbed the 50-inch TV off a pallet in the store’s shipping and receiving area.
They were spotted as they tried to get by a store employee and a loss prevention officer was alerted.
A brief chase followed and the pair dropped the TV and fled.
Collard suggested a 60-day sentence, saying the theft was not shoplifting, but a “brazen type of theft.”
Defence lawyer Paul Morigeau said Taylor was married with two children and worked on and off in oilfield construction. He has already arranged to seek drug treatment in Edmonton beginning next month.
Taylor told provincial court Judge Bert Skinner that he “kind of went on a downward spiral and got back into drugs, and here I stand.”
Skinner sentenced Taylor to 60 days in jail for the theft charge.
He was given credit for 40 days already served in jail. He was also fined $400 for failing to appear and $500 for the breach charge.
Taylor is due to appear in an Edmonton court on Aug. 3 on charges of one count of possession of methamphetamines for the purpose of trafficking and two counts of breach of recognizance.
He was arrested on May 26 when the Red Deer RCMP Street Team executed a search warrant at a Duston Street residence and arrested three people.
Stacey Joy Hogg, 23, of Red Deer was also arrested at the time and charged with single counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking, possession of stolen property and possession of the proceeds of crime.
Defence lawyer Will Willms appeared on her behalf on Thursday and her case was adjourned until July 28.
Jennifer Courchene, 20, of Red Deer was charged with two counts of possession of illegal drugs, two counts of breach of probation and one count of possession of stolen property. Courchene makes her next court appearance July 21 in Red Deer.