Broken promises

Fraud conviction elicits no remorse

Small rural communities tend to run on trust and good faith. When people give their word it is usually enough in a community like this one. So when someone twists and ruptures that trust in a willful and negligent way it is more than the direct victims who suffer. That was the message coming from a Picton courthouse last week.

Jamie Miller was sentenced last week for fraud. According to evidence described in his sentencing, Miller has bilked about $39,000 from more than a dozen people since 2008. There are likely more victims that have yet to make themselves known.

James Miller appeared at the Ontario Court of Justice in Picton last Wednesday to learn his sentence on more than 20 charges of fraud. Prior to handing down the sentence, Justice Geoff Griffin heard victim impact statements from two of Miller’s victims.

Evelyn Price was there on behalf of her family’s small business LP Wood Heating Systems. Miller had purchased and taken delivery of an outdoor furnace valued at more than $12,000 and never paid for it. After one year of pursuing payment the business finally received a cheque. It bounced.

“I started this whole thing and I’m glad of it,” said Price, before the proceedings. “Promises, promises, promises. I got sick of his empty promises.”

In the courtroom Price chose to face Miller as she read her statement.

“I believed in people ‘till I met you Jamie Miller” said Price. “How can you feel this is the right thing to do; is it okay to take things without paying?”

Jack Durant owns a trucking firm that never recieved payment for delivery of farm equipment purchased by Miller at auction. Durant said that his customers have become the victims, as he now has a fee built into his services to cover nonpayment.

Miller also ran afoul of the federal government running a school bus business. Over three years Miller deducted payroll remittance from his driver’s salary but didn’t forward the money to Revenue Canada.

Justice Griffin also read a statement from Tom Evans of Evans Lumber. Evans explained how Miller’s actions have affected the community and Miller’s own family. He said Miller has made people feel uncomfortable in their own community but how he wished Miller would become a better and more caring person.

Griffin said Miller’s actions were reprehensible beyond the loss of money—that he had taken advantage of good people, betraying them by stealing from them and shaking their faith in their community.

Miller was sentenced to three months’ house arrest; he will be allowed to go to work and keep health and legal appointments. He will be on probation following that and has been ordered to make restitution to all of his victims. Among other provisions Miller cannot contact his victims, nor can he write or possess cheques or credit cards. The judge also added a “knock-on” provision to allow the police to show up at his door to check up on him. He must continue to work and maintain employment and meet a defined payment schedule. Failure to do so will mean jail time.

“In some ways it’s easier to hide in jail,” said Griffin. “I think that people see him now for what he is. There is a stigma of being under house arrest. He is a pariah. I want people to get their money back and he can’t do that from jail. The primary focus is to see that people are paid back.”

Miller chose not to make an official statement but when prodded by Justice Griffin why he had done it, the convicted fraud offender shrugged his shoulders, muttering that he had simply gotten himself into financial trouble.