Judge penalizes hockey referee for playing too fast and loose

After helping himself to the paycheques of some of his officials, the former referee-in-chief of the Penticton Minor Hockey Association has learned that crime doesn’t pay.

Glenn Charbonneau, 40, pleaded guilty to a single count of fraud in connection with the scheme and was sentenced Monday in provincial court to six months’ house arrest.

For the first half of the term, he’ll be under a 24-hour curfew, which will be relaxed to 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the second half.

Court heard he used the paycheques of 10 referees to keep himself financially afloat following a bad business move.

Starting on May 29, 2015, a mother repeatedly asked Charbonneau when her son would be paid for refereeing games, but he continued to deflect her, ultimately telling her he would e-transfer the money.

After nearly four months, the mother contacted PMHA directly and was compensated, but the incident triggered an investigation into Charbonneau that revealed he’d kept the cheques of other referees totalling $1,575.

He’d taken the money because he’d fallen on hard financial times after trying to be a real estate agent but not selling any houses, said Crown counsel Nashina Devji.

However, she noted Charbonneau’s wife and mother both told police he didn’t ask them for help, indicating Charbonneau “chose to defraud the complainants.”

Citing the number of victims — all between the ages of 11 and 17, except for one adult — and amount of money involved, Devji recommended a jail sentence of up to one year.

Defence counsel Norm Yates suggested the sixmonth conditional sentence, noting Charbonneau has since paid the $1,575 back to the PMHA.

He said that Charbonneau had known that he would eventually get caught, but that his situation at the time had been so desperate that he felt he had no choice but to use the paycheques.

Charbonneau briefly spoke before Judge Gale Sinclair made his decision.

“I know I made a mistake, but I truly am sorry,” he said before breaking into sobs.

“You did made a mistake,” replied Sinclair. “No doubt about that.”

Charbonneau wrote apology letters to the victims and told the court he would send them right away.

The president of PMHA didn’t return a call for comment Monday afternoon, while BC Hockey declined comment.