BUSINESS
SPORTS
MUSIC helps tell the story in the latest adaptation of the story Peter And The Wolf, courtesy of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra.
MAXINE DEHART writes today about how the owner of Kettle Valley Woodworks has taken his renovated floorspace to a whole new level for showcasing his furniture products.
THE UBCO Okanagan Heat women’s volleyball squad will make history tonight as the first local campus team to host at Canadian Interuniversity Sport level playoff series.
B1
83 serving our community 1930 to 2013
A12
A15
All Purpose, All Season
Tractor
1699
$
SALES SINCE 1965
ARTS
SERVICE
PARTS
SAVOY EQUIPMENT
LTD.
from
1892 Byland Rd, West Kelowna
250-769-7355 1892 Spall Rd, Kelowna
250-868-1010
THURSDAY February 14, 2013 The Central Okanagan’s Best-Read Newspaper www.kelownacapnews.com
▼ COURT
▼ KELOWNA
Gang debt leads to fraud conviction
City gets corporate planner back
Cheryl Wierda
Alistair Waters
CONTRIBUTOR
ASSISTANT EDITOR
A car salesman who defrauded two people out of their BMWs after he ran afoul of the Independent Soldiers will serve his sentence in the community he’s hiding out in. Crown counsel Dave Ruse had suggested a short stint in jail would be best for David Mills, but his lawyer West Munson argued that time behind bars “might be tantamount to something more serious” because of the connections of the Independent Soldiers in jail. So instead, Ruse asked for a conditional sentence, which Judge Jane Cartwright agreed to. While she called Mills’ situation with the Independent Soldiers “horrifying,” Cartwright said she didn’t want to encourage others to take similar action by making it appear OK to resort to fraud to repay debts. Instead, she said Mills received a conditional sentence because the crime is comparable to employee theft and the higher courts have already deemed a conditional sentence an appropriate sanction in such cases. Mills, 43, appeared in court via video link from an undisclosed location for his sentencing, as members of the Independent Soldiers are “seriously interested” in locating him because they say he owes them money, Munson said. The debt dates back several years, when Mills borrowed money for his auto sales business. At the time, he didn’t know he had borrowed from the Independent Soldiers, said Munson.“It was a deal with the devil,” he said. Mills committed the frauds because he was behind on his payments and was “desperately trying to avoid that other kind of justice.” Ruse said Mills entered into consignment agreements to sell two BMWs for their owners back in 2009, after he was warned by the provincial authority that regulates car salesmen that he did not have the proper license to consign vehicles. When one of the vehicle owners went to check on the status of his vehicle, he discovered Mills had left the auto dealer and his vehicle had been moved to an unknown location.
The Kelowna bureaucrat brought in to temporarily lead the Central Okanagan Regional District’s transition effort last year says he’s ready to return to City Hall. But Paul Macklem, appointed interim RDCO CAO last spring following the retirement of its former chief administrative officer Harold Reay, said the experience has given him a new-found appreciation of the role the regional district plays in local government here. Macklem will return to his job as Kelowna’s general manager of corporate services in midApril. But, as he closes out his tenure of helping the regional district take stock of its operations and the services it provides across the region, Macklem said the year-long experience has shown him there is definitely a place for the regional district in the Central Okanagan’s future. That’s despite the fact all but two sparsely populated areas within the Central Okanagan are now incorporated.
BARRY GERDING/CAPITAL NEWS
LAST CHANCE…
Today is Valentine’s Day and the time when last minute shoppers and procrastinators will be out in full force looking to buy a gift for their special someone such as a bouquet of flowers as showcased here by Art Knapp Plantland staff member Sheri Persaud.
See City A10
See Fraud A4
the
Cadillac Dealer IN THE OKANAGAN VALLEY SINCE 1977
/MO
7N
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JACOBSEN EXCELLENCE
McCurdy Rd.
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$
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