A 68 year old well known man who pleaded guilty to stealing more than $40,000 from the Osoyoos Rural Fire Protection District has been handed a conditional sentence of 12 months, in a Penticton courtroom.

Judge Gregory Koturbash handed down the sentence to Michael Raymond McWhinnie, which includes 2 years probation, after hearing submissions from crown counsel Catherine Crockett and defence lawyer Michael Welsh.

According to the circumstances described by the judge, McWhinnie, a former schoolteacher in both Cache Creek and Osoyoos was the secretary treasurer of the local fire protection district. He admitted to writing 50 cheques to himself, in amounts ranging from $500 to a little over $1,000. The theft was  discovered by another board member then reported to the RCMP and theft and fraud charges were laid.

The fraud charge was dropped once McWhinie pled guilty to theft. According to the pre sentence report, McWhinnie suffers from a number of things including depression, post traumatic stress disorder and some gambling and alcohol additions, which occurred late in life, said the judge. The mitigating factors include that he entered a guilty plea, is extremely remorseful for his actions, has an absence of a criminal record, a good family relationship, his age.

Furthermore, he made an early attempt to repair the damage by repaying the money and cooperated with the police, by making a full and frank confession. In terms of aggravating factors, there is the size of the loss from the district, the breach of trust with public money, the impact on victims: with board members being shocked and upset, and believing it reflected badly on them.

For the first six months of the sentence, McWhinnie must remain in his home except when travelling to and from work, medical or training. He needs to further pay $600, still owing to the district and complete 50 hours of community work.

McWhinnie, who lost his house in a fire in Osoyoos in June, told the court, “a lot of things I don’t understand happened to me, the car accident, my house burning down. I don’t know why this happened. If I did know why, it wouldn’t have happened. I apologize completely.”