(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

VERNON - A 35-year-old Kamloops man who has already spent almost half his life behind bars, has been sentenced to another four years in prison for stealing $35,000 worth of goods including wrapped presents from a family home just days before Christmas in 2018.

According to court documents, Dustin Dale Braaten was arrested after his father recognized his son from surveillance footage which was posted to social media and picked up by several news outlets.

The break-in occurred just four days after Braaten got out of prison.

Court documents say Braaten broke into the Painted Turtle Lane property on the afternoon of Dec. 20, 2018. Security footage shows him knocking on the door, looking around, and then disappearing around the front of the house. Seventeen minutes later he was recorded leaving the front door carrying a large red bag and getting in his car and driving off.

When the homeowners returned later that day they realized about $35,000 worth of goods had been stolen including 30 pieces of jewellery, family heirlooms, a wedding ring, five watches, wrapped Christmas presents, identification and credits cards, along with roughly $500 in cash.

The security footage was posted online and on Dec. 26 Braaten's father contacted the victims and Braaten and "implored him to return the stolen property."

Braaten's father persuaded him to return some of the items, which he left in a bag behind Vernon’s downtown Safeway store. While the victims did get some of their property back, many of the items of higher and sentimental value were not recovered.

The RCMP took a statement from Braaten's father and arrested Braaten Jan. 7, 2019 in Kamloops.

In the court decision, Justice Gary Weatherill points out that although Braaten is only 35-years-old he has already spent 17 years behind bars.

Braaten has 49 adult convictions against him and has spent "most of his adult life behind bars," said B.C. Supreme Court Justice Gary Weatherill.

In June 2016, Braaten retracted his original plea and pleaded guilty for a violent robbery in a Kamloops motel after seeing the victims in court.

According to court documents, Braaten started using speed and amphetamines at age 16 and shortly afterwards moved to heroin.

Crown lawyers argued for a four to six-year jail sentence stating his history of crime and that his rehabilitation "ought not to be a primary consideration."

The defence argued for two-years less one day.

Justice Weatherill said although Braaten had expressed remorse he found it "half-hearted at best" and sentenced him to four years in prison, along with a lifetime firearms ban and that he must provide a DNA sample to the national databank.

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