Former Mosquito First Nation Chief Clarence Stone was sentenced for Treaty Land Entitlement fraud in a Battleford courtroom today.
Stone received a one-year conditional sentence.
For the first four months of his sentence, Stone will have a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
He will also have to perform 200 hours of community service.
Earlier this spring, Stone pleaded guilty to taking $23,900 of Mosquito TLE money.
Defence lawyer John Agioritis points out Stone has paid back all the money he took. He says the judge did the right thing by taking that into account.
Justice J. Danyluk said he considered sending Stone to jail. But he decided the shame of living in the community among the people Stone stole from will be punishment enough.
Mosquito resident Anderson Moosomin says the sentence was fair:
“I live with this guy 24/7. He’s a very cultural person, he’s respected in the community. We all make mistakes, but we learn by our mistakes.”
The judge also ordered that the money be placed back into the band’s TLE trust account.