LIES AND THREATS: Jail time for former Kelowna man who intimidated witness

A man who intimidated a victim in an effort to keep a Kelowna home invasion and assault quiet will spend another year in prison.

The victim was assaulted by her drug dealer after he broke into her home. The dealer was charged and his friend Troy Alvin Mruk then tried to convince the victim to change her story.

“keep your word n show up for court (thumb up emoji) know and we know now the law needs you to tell them YOU lied!!!! It is all for the best for everyone involved Especially YOU!! (sic)” a text message he sent the victim reads.

Mruk, also known as Bones, didn’t use his own phone number, but they then spoke over the phone and he reiterated the message.

There’s no indication he took part in the home invasion, but his attempt to steer the victim away from telling authorities about the crime didn’t sit well with the judge.

“The victim of this crime is not just the person receiving the threat; it is also the justice system as a whole, which is a fundamental aspect of a free and democratic society,” Provincial Court Judge Andrew Tam said in his March 10 decision.

Mruk claimed he “did not think he was doing anything wrong” and instead simply tried convincing the victim to “tell the truth,” according to the decision.

Tam didn’t buy it, largely because Mruk used someone else’s phone in an effort to “distance himself from the crime.”

What was meant by “the truth” in his version isn’t clear as his friend, Clayton Zeleniski, was sentenced in 2023 for breaking the victim’s door down and assaulting her inside two years earlier.

In addition to the intimidation effort, he also lied to the court after skipping previously scheduled sentence hearings. A prosecutor suggested in November Mruk was avoiding a possible jail sentence when he missed the third hearing.

Mruk told the court his mother, whom he lived with in Prince George, was supposed to drive him to the hearing, but couldn’t because she was in the hospital due to a heart attack.

Tam found she didn’t have a heart attack and did not spend any time in the hospital on the day of Mruk’s November hearing.

“This shows, again, the little respect Mr. Mruk has for the administration of justice,” Tam said.

Tam sentenced Mruk to 450 days jail, followed by two years of probation. With credit for time served, he’ll spend 358 days in jail.