Money fed gambilng addiction

Former OPP civilian employee spared jail for theft from detachment — Money fed gambilng addiction

By Linda Richardson

Posted 2 hours ago

A former civilian employee with the Ontario Provincial Police admitted Friday that she stole money from the Sault Ste. Marie detachment to feed the slot machines at the casino.

Rachelle Blake, 40, pleaded guilty to theft when she appeared in the Ontario Court of Justice.

As part of a plea bargain worked out between the Crown and defence, she received a conditional discharge, was placed on probation for 18 months and ordered to pay $2,200 restitution.

The cash was taken between Aug. 1, 2010 and Jan. 31, 2011, when she was an administrative assistant at the detachment.

Prosecutor Dana Peterson said the specific amount taken during the six-month period wasn't determined, but it ranged from a minimum $2,787 to a maximum $5,098.

The money was revenue from fees for items such as record checks and copies of accident reports, the assistant Crown attorney told Ontario Court Justice Nathalie Gregson.

In January 2011, an audit revealed Blake had utilized an OPP credit card for personal use, Peterson said.

She paid off the outstanding balance. Further checks were made because of what had occurred with the credit card and because the detachment's revenue was down.

Investigators found paperwork had been completed, but no deposits had been made during the six months, Peterson said.

Blake confessed to taking the money and to having a gambling addiction.

"She was taking the cash revenue to play slot machines,'' Peterson said.

A check with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and Blake's bank account "showed a very serious gambling addiction issue,'' the Crown said.

Blake's salary was spent within 24 to 48 hours of being paid and she wrote NSF cheques for her rent, twice receiving eviction notices, Peterson said.

Defence counsel Wayne Chorney said OLG revealed his client lost more than $11,000 between April 2010 and February 2011.

Blake, who has a business administration degree, began working with the OPP in Mattawa in 2000 and transferred to the Sault detachment in 2010.

Chorney said her gambling addiction was secondary to an addiction to pain killers, acquired after she was involved in accidents in 1997 and 1999.

She was lonely in the Sault, started going to the casino to see people and soon was going there every day, he said.

"There was transference of one addiction to another addiction.''

Blake underwent addiction treatment in June and July at an out-of-town facility and "hasn't gambled since,'' he said.

Chorney said Blake, who now resides in Edmonton and suffers from depression, is the kind of person deserving of a second chance.

Her actions were an "aberration'' of long-time good conduct and occurred when she had two addictions, he said.

Peterson said theft from an employer, which is a breach of trust, rarely results in a conditional discharge.

She cited a number of mitigating factors, including the role depression played in the thefts, the addictions, Blake's lack of a criminal record, long history of employment, completion of the
residential treatment program and guilty plea.

"All these factors tip the scales in favour of a conditional discharge,'' Peterson said.
She said neither the Crown nor defence was suggesting the $2,200 restitution was the total amount taken.

"It's an amount we have agreed to,'' she said.

Blake told the judge she went into the treatment program thinking she was a bad person.

She said she came out knowing she had done a terrible thing, that she had a disease (a gambling addiction) and now has coping skills.

"Hopefully, I can move forward.''

When she imposed sentence, Gregson said she sensed a feeling of remorse.

"You seem to have insight into your behaviour and thinking,'' she told Blake. "The light bulb has certainly gone off.

"It doesn't mean that you are bad person, but you made bad judgments,'' Gregson said, adding an addiction is difficult to beat without assistance.

She described the breach of trust as an aggravating factor in the sentencing.

"You broke your employer's trust, funnelling funds for your own private use.''

Gregson agreed there were a number of mitigating factors, including the guilty plea and remorse.
The judge also noted a gambling addiction was behind the theft.

"You really gained no benefit from taking the funds. It didn't improve your lifestyle. It was just lost.''

Gregson said that the mitigating factors outweighed the aggravating factor and granted the conditional discharge.

During her probation, Blake must take any recommended assessment, treatment and counselling.

As well, she is "to remain away from any and all casinos.''

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