Robbery Accomplice Sentenced

An accomplice to a violent armed robbery in Lumby has avoided jail time.

22 year old Keegan Reed plead guilty to theft under five-thousand dollars and being an accessory after the fact.

Reed drove Thomas Belanger to the Macs store in Lumby in April 2016.

Belanger held a female clerk at knife point, and got her to open a safe before he fled with cash.

The woman was not injured but was left traumatized by the incident.

Belanger gave Reed $420 for his help.

Reed thought Belanger was go to the store to steal something — perhaps shoplift an item — but realized it was much more serious when he saw Belanger throwing a mask, gloves, and a weapon out the window while they were driving away.

Reed –who had no previous record — was given an 18 month condition sentence, which is served in the community, and includes two months of house arrest.

“This is a significant discount due to your reduced involvement, (but) whatever happened in that store, you are also responsible for,” said provincial court judge Mayland McKimm.

“When you’re friends take bad paths, you have to walk away — and you didn’t walk away,” added McKimm.

He will be on probation for two years after that.

“If you breach any of these conditions, you will serve the rest of the time in jail, ” warned McKimm.

Reed was also ordered to pay back $420 to the Mac’s store, where Reed used to work at himself.

Belanger  — who was the ringleader — was sentenced back in February to 37 months in prison, followed by three years probation.

Crown and defence lawyers made a joint submission for the conditional sentence.

Defence lawyer Brian Loewen says Reed has been steadily employed, and has been working hard,  while co-parenting a young child.

“Things are materializing for him,” said Loewen.