Sylvia Joseph (right) outside court following August 2017 court appearance on the Big River First Nation. Photo by Chelsea Laskowski.
A sentence has been handed down in a fraud case involving the Fine Options program on the Big River First Nation.
Although the prosecution had pushed for jail time in previous court proceedings, Sylvia Joseph has received a 15-month conditional sentence.
Joseph has also been ordered to pay a $200 surcharge to the court and make a mandatory $800 donation to the Agency Chiefs Child and Family Services group home on the reserve.
Earlier this year, she pleaded guilty to eight counts of fraud related to charges that she took money in exchange for signing off on unperformed community service hours while she worked with the band-run Fine Options program.
Joseph initially faced more than 100 charges of forgery, defrauding the government, falsifying books and documents, and using a forged document after the RCMP started investigating a complaint against Joseph in mid-2013.
She is scheduled to appear in court again on May 15 to determine how much of the $800 she has paid to the group home.