news Crown wants former N.L. cabinet minister to get jail time in spending scandal

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Crown wants former N.L. cabinet minister to get jail time in spending scandal


1 hour, 10 minutes ago



By Tara Brautigam, The Canadian Press

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - A Crown lawyer says a former Newfoundland and Labrador cabinet minister who pleaded guilty for his role in the province's spending scandal should be given a jail sentence.
In her sentencing submission on Monday, Frances Knickle said Ed Byrne violated the public trust by overspending money from his constituency allowance account. "This was ... a violation of his position as an elected official," she said in court.
"This is taxpayers' money that could've been used for taxpayers."
Knickle said Byrne deserves a jail sentence of less than two years.
"It undermines confidence in the democratic system," she said of Byrne's crime.
"He is a contributing citizen. That's what makes this a tragedy."
Byrne, 45, served in the cabinet of Premier Danny Williams and was one of five men charged in 2007 after an investigation into constituency allowance spending.
The province's auditor general alleged that Byrne had overspent nearly $468,000 in taxpayers' money.
In January, Byrne pleaded guilty to fraud over $5,000 and influence peddling.
Byrne is also facing a civil suit from the provincial government for the excessive constituency allowance claims.
Defence lawyer Bob Simmonds argued that Byrne should be spared jail time because of the anguish he's experienced since being charged.
Byrne is now estranged from his wife and children, and has lost what was once a bright, promising political future, Simmonds said.
"There's nothing you can sentence this man to that the hell of his own personal situation has not visited upon him," said Simmonds, who's calling for a conditional sentence of less than two years.
According to an agreed statement of facts entered as evidence at the provincial court, Byrne submitted falsified, forged or duplicitous expense claims and was reimbursed more than $100,000 for those claims.
The transactions involved individuals, building supply stores, Costco and other companies
Simmonds has said his client intends to repay roughly $117,000, the amount the Crown is seeking in restitution.
The scandal erupted in June 2006, when Byrne resigned from cabinet amid accusations he had overspent his constituency allowance. Six months later, he quit politics altogether after auditor general John Noseworthy alleged he had overspent his constituency allowance by more than five times the approved limit from 1999 to 2004.
Byrne was first elected to represent the provincial district of Kilbride, south of St. John's, in 1993. He ascended through the Progressive Conservative party's ranks, serving as leader from 1998 to 2001, when Williams took over.
After the Tories were elected in 2003, Byrne was appointed energy minister and considered one of the premier's most valued members of cabinet, overseeing the province's burgeoning resources sector.
The tax-free constituency allowances are normally used to pay for expenses incurred while conducting constituency duties, including office rent, equipment, supplies and secretarial services.
After his investigation, Noseworthy alleged four politicians filed $1.5 million in excessive constituency allowance claims - with Byrne filing the largest total claims. A former legislature official has also been charged.