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A Kamloops judge has ruled a fraudster will serve her sentence in prison, refusing to accept house arrest as previously proposed.

Judge Stella Frame previously scolded both Michele Huston's defence lawyer and the Crown, warning them she wasn't simply a "rubber stamp" for their joint sentencing agreement.

Michele Marie Huston was sentenced to one year in prison followed by three years on probation today, Sept. 6.

Huston pleaded guilty to both fraud and theft over $5,000 earlier this year, and lawyers agreed on a two-year sentence to be served entirely outside of a prison. Justice Frame doubted the proposed conditional sentence was a harsh enough punishment for Huston's crime and twice delayed sentencing.

Huston was working for Kamloops Heating and Air Conditioning from July 2019 to January 2020, where she embezzled more than $11,000 through a combination of time theft, unearned commission and use of the company credit card.

"It was a family business where a man had died. A woman was going through grief and (Huston) was their support. It's horrific circumstances," Justice Frame said during a June 29 hearing.

On Sept. 6, Frame said Huston was there to console the family after the original owner died. They were left to both grieve his death and run the business, all while Huston was promoted to bookkeeper and proceeded to steal from the family business.

Huston used the company credit card to purchase concert tickets, book a hotel at Sun Peaks and schedule rooms at local schools for the Sim'ya Ukrainian Society, a dance group she runs. Huston also bought household goods like a Roomba, a rolling kitchen island and an Xbox.

Crown told the court the air conditioning business was able to get refunds for some of her purchases but many, like the iPad she bought for herself and the cellphone she bought for her daughter, couldn't be refunded.

Defence lawyer Joe Killoran and Crown prosecutor Leah Winters proposed a joint submission that included a two-year conditional sentence, followed by three years of probation. The conditional sentence would have included six months of house arrest with an exception to allow Huston to continue her work as an office administrator.

Her conditions for both the sentence and her probation would have barred her from handling other people's money, which the lawyers said would protect the public. That order will now apply during her probation.

Huston was also ordered to repay around $7,100 that the business couldn't recover within a year of her Sept. 6 hearing. That amount doesn't include the money the company spent for audits to uncover exactly how much she stole.

"I'm not questioning the effort you two put into this joint submission," Frame said when lawyers resubmitted their proposal in July, adding that she's concerned about the public interest of Huston's sentence.

When she delivered the sentence today, Frame noted there is a high bar for judges to refuse joint submissions, but she believed the two-year conditional sentence would "bring the administration of justice into disrepute." She added Huston has two previous convictions with one for fraud and another for theft in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

She was given conditional sentences in those cases, too, meaning she was not held in custody. Frame said Huston breached the 2009 sentence order once, but didn't explain exactly what Huston did.

Frame said Huston "has not learned" from her previous convictions, so it was time to keep Huston in custody this time.

Huston stood after Frame delivered her sentence, remaining quiet and composed as a sheriff placed her in handcuffs. 

Killoran declined to comment when asked whether Huston may appeal the sentence.

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