Court shows leniency on fraudster suffering from health issues

PENTICTON – A man suffering from head injuries received after being involved in a hit and run will serve a conditional sentence after pleading guilty in court this morning to a number of charges.

Terry Glen Dromerski appeared before Judge Gale Sinclair in Penticton court today, Feb. 27, to enter guilty pleas to two counts of fraud, possession and use of a stolen credit card, failure to attend court, breach of curfew and failure to report.

Crown Prosecutor Ann Lerechs said Penticton RCMP were called to Fairview Grocery Store on May 17, 2016 where a man was reported to have attempted to buy goods using a stolen credit card. Police were told the man fled the scene on a mountain bike with a trailer attached.

Police caught up with the suspect near the Penticton Safeway. A wallet containing a Visa and Visa debit card in the name of a victim who reported the wallet stolen in July, 2015, was on the cards.

Dromerski was arrested and later released.

On June 29, 2016, police were alerted by an off duty officer of two suspicious men using the self-checkouts with shopping carts of groceries. The men were asked how they were paying for the items and they produced a Mastercard with someone else’s name on it.

The men were using the tap feature on the card to avoid having to sign by purchasing just short of $100 worth of items at a time, racking up a total of $1,159.24 worth of groceries.

Dromerski was arrested and later released, but then failed to make a court appearance on Aug. 10.

In late September, a police check on Dromerski’s whereabouts found him to be in breach of curfew and, again in late September, he failed to report.

Lerechs asked Judge Gale Sinclair to consider a jail term of between 124 and 172 days, with credit for eight days served, noting Dromerski’s lengthy, but dated criminal record that ended in 2008, only to begin again in 2016 with the infractions noted.

Defence lawyer Robert Maxwell said his client had an appointment for an MRI scan later this week, as he was undergoing cancer treatment. Maxwell said Dromerski had been the victim of a hit and run where he was left for dead in Manitoba four years ago.

He said his client suffered a head injury that caused psychological problems including poor judgment, asking the judge to consider the lengthy gap in Dromerski’s criminal record and his current health issues in ordering a six month conditional sentence.

Judge Sinclair agreed, sentencing Dromerski to a 160 day conditional sentence of house arrest, followed by a one year probationary term.

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