BOYLE – An Athabasca-area man will be spending the next six months in his home after he was found stealing a variety of household items from an unoccupied cabin in Calling Lake back in January.
Adam Gambler, 34, pleaded guilty to breaking and entering into a non-dwelling house, as well as two counts of failing to attend court during an Oct. 8 appearance in the Boyle Court of Justice.
As part of a plea deal between Crown prosecutor Taylor Noble and defence counsel Denise Lightning, Gambler will serve a six-month conditional sentence including curfew, counselling and an alcohol prohibition before spending a year on probation. During that time, Lightning told the court he plans to work on his sobriety, which was partially what led him down this road.
“He did have some struggles with substances, but his family, his mom and dad, they don’t allow it in their home, and he does intend to attend treatment,” said Lightning.
On Jan. 20, Gambler and a youth, who can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, broke into an unoccupied cabin in the Calling Lake area. Noble said that after breaking a window, the two individuals started to fill their backpacks and garbage bags with a variety of household items, including food and a television.
Unbeknownst to them, the window the two broke triggered an alarm, and the RCMP found both still inside the residence where they were arrested without incident.
“When I hear substance struggles, that’s usually when I see something like this that’s bringing you in periodically — there’s something going on in your life that’s bringing you here,” said Justice Joanne Heudes, who noted Gambler only had two prior offences on his criminal record.
“You aren’t a career criminal who can’t participate in society, you seem to do very well otherwise.”
