An Ontario Superior Court judge has imposed a 12-month prison sentence on a repeat offender convicted of multiple thefts from LCBO stores, rejecting a jointly proposed 90-day sentence between Crown and defence.

The judge said the longer sentence was warranted in part because he had no confidence that the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) would carry out an existing deportation order against the offender once his custodial sentence was completed.

The offender, identified as a 30-year-old man who arrived in Canada in 2016 as a student, has a criminal record dating back to 2021 and has been subject to a removal order since October 2022.

Despite this, the court noted he had previously spent time in custody in both 2024 and 2025 on serious charges, during which authorities did not proceed with deportation.

The judge pointed to this pattern of inaction in questioning whether immigration consequences could realistically be relied upon in sentencing decisions.

The case involved guilty pleas to multiple theft-related charges, including stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of alcohol from LCBO locations in Hamilton.

The judge described the conduct as organized and repetitive, noting that the offender and accomplices targeted stores on multiple occasions, taking large quantities of whisky and vodka without payment.At the time of the offences, he was also under probation conditions prohibiting entry into LCBO stores.

The court ultimately found that the proposed 90-day sentence would undermine confidence in the justice system and would not properly reflect the seriousness of the offences.Instead, a 12-month sentence was imposed, along with a 60-day concurrent term for breach of probation.The judge also warned that future cases may require stronger evidence before courts accept claims about immigration consequences during sentencing.

The decision highlights broader concerns about retail theft, enforcement gaps, and the interaction between criminal sentencing and immigration enforcement in Canada.