Sandel Pierre, one of three people who beat former SPVM investigator Pietro Poletti at his home in LaSalle in June 2020 and molested his octogenarian mother, was sentenced to four years in prison on Friday at the Montreal courthouse.
Posted at 4:21pm
21-year-old Pierre, who pleaded guilty to charges of burglary and trespassing, assault with a weapon, assault and mischief, has been jailed since his arrest on the day of the attack. So if we subtract the time he spent in pre-trial detention, for which each day counts as a day and a half, he still has a month and a half to serve.
This is a victory for the defense, which asked for four years in prison while the prosecution asked for double that.
Pietro Poletti opened his door on the afternoon of June 12, 2020 and three people entered his home and beat him with kicks and punches, bricks and snow brushes before fleeing in a car driven by a fourth man who also pleaded guilty and testified against it by his former accomplices.
In her oral decision, Judge Joëlle Roy of the Quebec Court specifically noted that the sponsor and motive for the attack remain unknown, that nothing in the evidence shows that the defendant knew where he was going on the afternoon of June 12, 2020, and that the occupant of the house was a retired police officer.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
The front room of Pietro Poletti’s house where the robbery took place
“This is amateur work,” said the judge, who also accepted the following elements: that the accused had no criminal record, that the attack was limited to the anteroom, that nothing was stolen, that objects in the house were within reach of the attackers that caused serious injuries could have resulted were not used, that the victim suffered “minor injuries overall” and that there were some discrepancies in that victim’s testimony both at the preliminary investigation and in court.
The “forks” in the dock
The judge also criticized the “ranges” of penalties mentioned by the parties in the pleadings.
In general, one area is the spectrum within which a penalty is deemed appropriate based on case law and facts.
“The tribunal does not believe in reach. They hide a purely subjective character, depending on what you want to tell them. […] They prove to be unreliable, and they also contradict the cardinal principle of our criminal law, namely the individualization of punishment. They become a simple safe conduct and are dangerous to use because they perpetuate the same mistakes from act to act, so much so that we no longer see the accused receiving that sentence himself,” the judge said.
The judge spoke to Sandel Pierre after reading her decision. She urged him to “seek help and surround yourself well.” “We don’t want to see you here anymore,” she told him.
“We are definitely disappointed. We made our arguments and asked for eight years. On the other hand, Mr. Pierre pleaded guilty and we concur with the judge in the sense that there has been a start of rehabilitation,” responded the prosecutor of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Me Philippe Vallières-Roland, adding that the director for Criminal and Prosecution (DPCP) wanted to assess whether or not he will appeal the verdict.
Mr. Pierre was represented by Ms. Kristina Markovic.
The other two people who beat Pietro Poletti at his home, Yadley Deutz-St-Jean and Mitchaino Bruno, were also tried and found guilty on the same charges. They are still awaiting their punishment.
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