Former Conservative MP should get 12 months in jail for overspending during 2008 election, Crown says
Former Conservative MP should get 12 months in jail for overspending during 2008 election, Crown says
Dean Del Mastro should spend nine to 12 months in jail and pay the Conservative riding association $10,000 that he defrauded, the Crown argued on Thursday at the sentencing hearing for the former MP.
Del Mastro was convicted on Oct. 31, 2014, of three Elections Act violations from the 2008 campaign: exceeding spending limits, donation limits and covering it up.
Crown prosecutor Tom Lemon told Justice Lisa Cameron that Del Mastro, the former Conservative MP for Peterborough and parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has not shown remorse.
He should receive “nothing less than a period of imprisonment of nine to 12 months,” Lemon said.
He asked for four to six months in jail for Richard McCarthy, the official agent who was convicted of two counts.
The morning started with Cameron briefly explaining her reasoning for the last-ditch arguments made by Del Mastro’s lawyer last month, when he spent the first day set aside for a sentencing hearing calling for a mistrial in the case.
Cameron was unmoved by the arguments of Leo Adler, saying that he had failed to show that she had erred in her interpretation of the Elections Act in finding that Del Mastro exceeded the spending limit.
“Needless to say there is an appeal process available for the defence if they choose to take it,” she said.
Lemon began his sentencing submissions by reviewing electoral case law, including the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling in Harper vs. Canada, an Election Action challenge brought by Harper. In that case the court ruled that election spending limits create “a level playing field.”
By exceeding the limit by spending $20,000 of his own money on electoral phone calls, Del Mastro was able to spend more money on advertising, making the election unfair, Lemon argued.
“On the eve of the 2008 election, Mr. Del Mastro was not in the mood to take any chances,” he said.
Lemon made a point-by-point comparison of Del Mastro’s case to that of Michael Sona, a Conservative staffer convicted of interfering with the 2011 election in Guelph by sending a fraudulent robocall. Sona was sentenced last year to nine months in prison and 12 months probation. He was released pending an appeal after serving 13 days in jail.
Del Mastro was not in the mood to take any chances
In his role as parliamentary secretary to Harper, Del Mastro frequently defended the government’s actions in that matter.
Sona’s case was a “much more direct interference in the right to vote,” said Lemon. Del Mastro’s case “is more indirect but still interference with the electoral process.”
Lemon said that Cameron should take into account Del Mastro’s “lack of remorse, lack of acceptance of responsibility, the minimization of the seriousness of the offences.”
Del Mastro arrived at court with his brothers and his wife, Kelly, who brought their infant daughter, Charlotte, to court.
Del Mastro resigned his seat on Nov. 5 after NDP MPs began to call for his expulsion, which might have jeopardized his pension.
Former Conservative MP should get 12 months in jail for overspending during 2008 election, Crown says
Former Conservative MP should get 12 months in jail for overspending during 2008 election, Crown says
Dean Del Mastro should spend nine to 12 months in jail and pay the Conservative riding association $10,000 that he defrauded, the Crown argued on Thursday at the sentencing hearing for the former MP.
Del Mastro was convicted on Oct. 31, 2014, of three Elections Act violations from the 2008 campaign: exceeding spending limits, donation limits and covering it up.
Crown prosecutor Tom Lemon told Justice Lisa Cameron that Del Mastro, the former Conservative MP for Peterborough and parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has not shown remorse.
He should receive “nothing less than a period of imprisonment of nine to 12 months,” Lemon said.
He asked for four to six months in jail for Richard McCarthy, the official agent who was convicted of two counts.
The morning started with Cameron briefly explaining her reasoning for the last-ditch arguments made by Del Mastro’s lawyer last month, when he spent the first day set aside for a sentencing hearing calling for a mistrial in the case.
Cameron was unmoved by the arguments of Leo Adler, saying that he had failed to show that she had erred in her interpretation of the Elections Act in finding that Del Mastro exceeded the spending limit.
“Needless to say there is an appeal process available for the defence if they choose to take it,” she said.
Lemon began his sentencing submissions by reviewing electoral case law, including the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling in Harper vs. Canada, an Election Action challenge brought by Harper. In that case the court ruled that election spending limits create “a level playing field.”
By exceeding the limit by spending $20,000 of his own money on electoral phone calls, Del Mastro was able to spend more money on advertising, making the election unfair, Lemon argued.
“On the eve of the 2008 election, Mr. Del Mastro was not in the mood to take any chances,” he said.
Lemon made a point-by-point comparison of Del Mastro’s case to that of Michael Sona, a Conservative staffer convicted of interfering with the 2011 election in Guelph by sending a fraudulent robocall. Sona was sentenced last year to nine months in prison and 12 months probation. He was released pending an appeal after serving 13 days in jail.
Del Mastro was not in the mood to take any chances
In his role as parliamentary secretary to Harper, Del Mastro frequently defended the government’s actions in that matter.
Sona’s case was a “much more direct interference in the right to vote,” said Lemon. Del Mastro’s case “is more indirect but still interference with the electoral process.”
Lemon said that Cameron should take into account Del Mastro’s “lack of remorse, lack of acceptance of responsibility, the minimization of the seriousness of the offences.”
Del Mastro arrived at court with his brothers and his wife, Kelly, who brought their infant daughter, Charlotte, to court.
Del Mastro resigned his seat on Nov. 5 after NDP MPs began to call for his expulsion, which might have jeopardized his pension.
Former Conservative MP should get 12 months in jail for overspending during 2008 election, Crown says