Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK

KAMLOOPS — A man who left a derogratory comment on a local news station's website bragging that he was out of the province has been sentenced to 14 days of imprisonment after being brought back to Kamloops to deal with several charges from late 2014 and early 2015.

After seeing his own name and face on CFJC Today's weekly Most Wanted segment, Jessie Dean Kowalchuk, 28, decided to leave a comment about his current location.

"His comment was somewhat profane," Crown prosecutor Andrew Duncan said in a Kamloops provincial courtroom yesterday, May 16.

Kowalchuk revealed he was no longer in Kamloops and had been in Edmonton for the last few years.

"News flash morons, I'm in Edmonton and I'm not coming back, you missed the ball by about three fucking years," Duncan said quoting Kowalchuk.

CFJC Today forwarded this information to Kamloops RCMP and three of Kowalchuk's outstanding B.C. warrants were extended to Alberta where he was arrested.

Kowalchuk appeared in court wearing an orange jumpsuit. He pleaded guilty to a theft charge stemming from December 2014 where he stole several items from a Sears Department store totaling approximately $149 in Surrey and three probation breaches that followed. He was sentenced to time already served for the theft.

Kowalchuk said he has turned his life around in the last three years.

"I am very sorry for my actions and my social media comment. It was totally inappropriate and I would like to say I am grateful for the opportunity to have these charges dealt with," he said. "I am a completely different person from who I was back then."

Kowalchuk's lawyer said his client dropped out of school when he was only in Grade 6. He was raised mainly by his father who was addicted to drugs after his mother passed away when Kowalchuk was still a teenager.

At the time of his offences Kowalchuk was affected by drugs and alcohol. In the last three years, he has been working and remained sober, the lawyer said.

Kamloops Provincial Court Judge Stella Frame said while it is true he has managed to change his life around, Kowalchuk's social media comment suggested otherwise.

"You have shown a remarkable disrespect towards the justice system and to police enforcement in your comments on social media," Frame said. "It does not serve the community well here or in Alberta to to take the attitude that you can simply leave the province and disregard a sentence that has been imposed for you."

Duncan also said the jail sentence for the three probation breaches is a step up for sentencing.

"This is a situation where I think general deterrence is the factor of the day," he said. "The public needs to understand that if you have a warrant, you can't run away from it. It will be found and the warrant will be executed and you will be imported back to the jurisdiction for it to be dealt with."

After serving his two weeks in jail, Kowalchuk was also sentenced to complete a number of community hours and serve one year of probation. 

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