Mike on Crime

By Mike McIntyre
Winnipeg Free Press

A Winnipeg man who pleaded guilty last summer to using a homemade magnet to fish coins out of hundreds of vending machines was back in court today on a series of new charges.
James Payette, 42, admitted he skipped out on his sentencing hearing in July and then resorted back to his previous lifestyle of doing drugs and stealing change.
Crown and defence lawyers submitted a joint-recommendation that calls for Payette to spend between 18 and 24 months behind bars, followed by two years of probation.
When Payette last appeared in court, the Crown was agreeing to a conditional sentence that would have kept him free in the community. But that offer was pulled when he went on the run.
Provincial court Judge Catherine Carlson will give her decision next Thursday,
Payette pleaded guilty to 81 criminal charges of mostly theft and mischief. He netted plenty of quarters, loonies and toonies and caused more than $100,000 damage during an unusual crime spree his lawyer Mike Cook said was motivated by drugs.
He was arrested in December 2005 after the owner of a local company got so fed up with being looted they launched their own surveillance. Payette was caught red-handed, hog-tied and held for police.
Payette had three main targets – Coke, Pepsi and Winnipeg-based Vend-Tec, which was nearly run out of business by the thefts. The company suffered massive financial losses as a result of the thefts.
He used a straightened out coat hanger with a powerful magnet attached and would often feed it down the coin return and straight into the money box of the machine. In other cases, he had to drill a small hole to get inside.
The companies responded by adding security features to the machines, but Payette would always find a way around it.