A 26-year-old man pleaded guilty to fraud for using his former stepfather’s credit card to rack up $1,316.17 in Xbox Live charges over six months.
That was one of several charges Ashtin Rene William Poitras pleaded guilty to in Estevan Provincial Court on Feb. 10.
Poitras represented himself in court.
The Xbox fraud charge stemmed from April to October in 2018, resulting in a charge of fraud under $5,000. While Mastercard had reimbursed the charges, it was now out the $1,316.17. This led to the Crown asking for a restitution order to repay Mastercard.
The fraud charges stem from when he lived in Springside, near Yorkton, before moving to Estevan. When Crown prosecutor Mitch Crumley said the victim had been Poitras’ stepfather, Poitras interjected, saying, “former.” Crumley corrected himself.
A failure to report to a probation officer charge was from April 3, 2019. Poitras also pleaded guilty to failing to attend court, a charge from Jan. 6, 2020.
On Sept. 10, 2019, at 8 p.m., he was pulled over on Highway 47 south of Estevan for having no taillights. When the licence plate was entered in the computer, it came up as being registered to a Ford pickup, which was odd, since Poitras was driving a Volkswagen Golf.
To make matters worse, Poitras gave another person’s name to police. A search found his own driver’s licence, but Poitras told police that licence was actually a friend’s.
This incident resulted in several charges: driving while disqualified, operating an unregistered vehicle, displaying an unauthorized plate, obstructing police by providing a false name, and a breach by failing to keep the peace and be of good behaviour.
While Poitras pleaded guilty to all the charges listed to him, save a probation breach the Crown withdrew, he protested quietly that he hadn’t put the plate on that vehicle, saying someone else had. After conferring with Poitras quietly, the Crown prosecutor stayed the licence plate charge.
Judge Michelle Brass accepted the joint submission, which included an 18-month suspended sentence with probation, a restitution order of $1,316.17 payable to the applicable Mastercard provider, three fines of $100 and two fines of $300 for the remaining charges, totalling $900 before the application of the victim impact surcharge.
He was given 10 months to pay the fines and surcharge, and 18 months to make restitution.
