Detention centres send weekend inmates home, official tells judge
By Dianne Wood Record staff
KITCHENER — A judge expressed disappointment Wednesday that correctional officials in Toronto converted a weekend jail sentence he imposed in 2007 to community service. Justice Bruce Frazer said he deliberately gave Martin Nanasi a jail sentence because of the deterrent effect he hoped it would have. But that effect was lost when the jail switched the sentence to community service, he said Wednesday in Kitchener’s Ontario Court. Frazer gave Nanasi a 60-day intermittent jail sentence in July 2007 for failing to file income tax returns. He only learned in October, when Nanasi was back in court, that he served just one weekend of that sentence at the Mimico Correctional Centre in Etobicoke. His lawyer assumed he’d been sent home because the facility was overcrowded. The judge ordered someone from the detention centre to come and explain. On Wednesday, he learned the detention centre has the authority under the Correctional Services Act to give offenders temporary absence passes for 72 hours or less. Weekend jail sentences are usually served from Friday night to Monday morning. Winston Wong, deputy superintendent of programs at Mimico, said the jail diverts about 10 per cent of inmates to its Intermittent Community Work Program. Corrections officers pick inmates who don’t pose a danger to the community, haven’t been convicted of violent crimes or sexual offences, and don’t have a history of failing to comply with court orders. Classification officers chose suitable candidates who are assigned work at community agencies that partner with the detention centre. Nanasi reported to the jail on Aug. 3 and served the first weekend. After that, he reported to the Humane Society in Kitchener where he worked Saturdays and Sundays until he was discharged on Oct. 7. He was also required to sign in at the jail every Friday night. Jail officials do random phone checks at night and on weekends to monitor offenders, Wong said.
He acknowledged they don’t have the equipment to tell whether the person who answers the phone is the offender. The agencies that partner with the jail will notify Mimico if an offender doesn’t show up, arrives late or drunk, Wong said. Such violations can result in offenders being made to serve the rest of their sentence in jail. There are 36 inmates on the program this week, he said. “Not a lot of inmates qualify for this program.’’ The judge wanted to know how the jail monitors an offender’s activities at home. “Is there anything preventing (an offender) from having some buddies in, and a case of beer, and watching a hockey game?’’ Frazer asked. “That’s not something that would be available at the institution.’’ Wong said there was nothing to prevent that. Prosecutor Kathleen Nolan said she was concerned the sentence was changed because the judge chose jail after rejecting other options, such as community service or a conditional sentence of house arrest. The court had already fined Nanasi in 2002 for failing to file tax returns. That didn’t work, so Frazer said he chose a more “obtrusive’’ sentence the last time to coerce Nanasi into filing his returns. “The deterrent intent of that jail sentence was lost by the manner in which your sentence was served,’’ he said. “There’s a legitimate purpose to be served by the community-based programs,’’ Frazer added. He acknowledged the detention centre is entitled to divert weekend sentences. Wong said Nanasi would qualify for the work program again if sentenced to another intermittent jail term. He was convicted last April of eight counts of failing to comply with a court order to file personal and corporate tax returns for International Power Press Corp. from 1999 to 2002. On Wednesday, he told the judge he’d finally paid an outstanding fine of $5,000, and completed many of the returns. He is still facing more charges for not filing returns for other years. The judge decided to send him to jail for 30 days. It’s to be served as straight time, not on weekends. But Frazer won’t actually impose the sentence until January to give Nanasi time to complete several work projects for customers. Nanasi said he is bitter at Revenue Canada for not giving him a $500,000 tax credit he felt he was entitled to many years ago. “I figured if I held out long enough, they’d come and talk to me. Now they’re using the courts to beat me up,’’ he said.
By Dianne Wood Record staff
KITCHENER — A judge expressed disappointment Wednesday that correctional officials in Toronto converted a weekend jail sentence he imposed in 2007 to community service. Justice Bruce Frazer said he deliberately gave Martin Nanasi a jail sentence because of the deterrent effect he hoped it would have. But that effect was lost when the jail switched the sentence to community service, he said Wednesday in Kitchener’s Ontario Court. Frazer gave Nanasi a 60-day intermittent jail sentence in July 2007 for failing to file income tax returns. He only learned in October, when Nanasi was back in court, that he served just one weekend of that sentence at the Mimico Correctional Centre in Etobicoke. His lawyer assumed he’d been sent home because the facility was overcrowded. The judge ordered someone from the detention centre to come and explain. On Wednesday, he learned the detention centre has the authority under the Correctional Services Act to give offenders temporary absence passes for 72 hours or less. Weekend jail sentences are usually served from Friday night to Monday morning. Winston Wong, deputy superintendent of programs at Mimico, said the jail diverts about 10 per cent of inmates to its Intermittent Community Work Program. Corrections officers pick inmates who don’t pose a danger to the community, haven’t been convicted of violent crimes or sexual offences, and don’t have a history of failing to comply with court orders. Classification officers chose suitable candidates who are assigned work at community agencies that partner with the detention centre. Nanasi reported to the jail on Aug. 3 and served the first weekend. After that, he reported to the Humane Society in Kitchener where he worked Saturdays and Sundays until he was discharged on Oct. 7. He was also required to sign in at the jail every Friday night. Jail officials do random phone checks at night and on weekends to monitor offenders, Wong said.
He acknowledged they don’t have the equipment to tell whether the person who answers the phone is the offender. The agencies that partner with the jail will notify Mimico if an offender doesn’t show up, arrives late or drunk, Wong said. Such violations can result in offenders being made to serve the rest of their sentence in jail. There are 36 inmates on the program this week, he said. “Not a lot of inmates qualify for this program.’’ The judge wanted to know how the jail monitors an offender’s activities at home. “Is there anything preventing (an offender) from having some buddies in, and a case of beer, and watching a hockey game?’’ Frazer asked. “That’s not something that would be available at the institution.’’ Wong said there was nothing to prevent that. Prosecutor Kathleen Nolan said she was concerned the sentence was changed because the judge chose jail after rejecting other options, such as community service or a conditional sentence of house arrest. The court had already fined Nanasi in 2002 for failing to file tax returns. That didn’t work, so Frazer said he chose a more “obtrusive’’ sentence the last time to coerce Nanasi into filing his returns. “The deterrent intent of that jail sentence was lost by the manner in which your sentence was served,’’ he said. “There’s a legitimate purpose to be served by the community-based programs,’’ Frazer added. He acknowledged the detention centre is entitled to divert weekend sentences. Wong said Nanasi would qualify for the work program again if sentenced to another intermittent jail term. He was convicted last April of eight counts of failing to comply with a court order to file personal and corporate tax returns for International Power Press Corp. from 1999 to 2002. On Wednesday, he told the judge he’d finally paid an outstanding fine of $5,000, and completed many of the returns. He is still facing more charges for not filing returns for other years. The judge decided to send him to jail for 30 days. It’s to be served as straight time, not on weekends. But Frazer won’t actually impose the sentence until January to give Nanasi time to complete several work projects for customers. Nanasi said he is bitter at Revenue Canada for not giving him a $500,000 tax credit he felt he was entitled to many years ago. “I figured if I held out long enough, they’d come and talk to me. Now they’re using the courts to beat me up,’’ he said.
