A Prince George man was sentenced Thursday to a further 13 months behind bars for leading jailhouse attacks on two inmates that began after one of the victims complained the "big guys" were "hoarding all the milk."
In all, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Paul Walker sentenced Christopher Ryan Russell to 30 months in jail less credit of 17 months time served for the April 1 and 2, 2014 incidents at Prince George Regional Correctional Centre. Six months of that sentence was for an assault on Larry McCarthy, who made his complaint in a voice loud enough that he could be heard throughout the unit and went on to say that it wasn't fair for the "smaller guys."
Milk is carefully rationed so that just enough is put out for each inmate, but Russell and another inmate, Jonathan Kyle Relkey, who worked out in the jail's gym and wanted the protein, poured the milk into their large water jugs, leaving McCarthy with no milk.
Later in the day, McCarthy was lured into the laundry room where Russell took three swings at him, grazing the side of his head as McCarthy dodged the punches. McCarthy swung back in self-defence and escaped the laundry room as Russell's accomplices tried to restrain him until a guard neared the scene.
Some time afterwards, Russell confronted McCarthy at his cell, inviting him to "finish what had been started." McCarthy declined, saying he was at PGRCC "to do my time."
Another accomplice, Jeremy James Aldred, told McCarthy, "it ain't over. It's my turn now." McCarthy put his foot against his cell door to block Aldred who eventually relented after he was satisfied McCarthy would not "rat" to the guards about what occurred.
Noting that as the unit rep, Russell knew there were no cameras in the laundry room, Walker found he planned the encounter, intent on punishing and intimidating McCarthy and then tried to get into another altercation with him later that day.
Russell asserted McCarthy took the first swing when they were in the laundry room, but Walker doubted the smaller man would have initiated the fight.
A consecutive sentence of 24 months was imposed on Russell for an attack on McCarthy's cellmate, Robert White, the next day.
For reasons not explained during the trial, Russell threw a ball at White in the prison yard.
Once back inside, Russell and two others, Aldred and Aaron James Morin, went to White's cell after McCarthy had been told to stay away, and Russell confronted him over a claim White had called them "goofs," considered an insult of the highest form among inmates.
White denied he used the word and pushed his way out of the cell and into the unit's main floor where Russell broke his jaw with a punch in full view of a video camera which recorded the episode.
White suffered a severe fracture to his jaw that left him disfigured and with ongoing numbness to the area. He may need more surgery, Walker noted.
Both McCarthy and White were newcomers to PGRCC and Walker found the attacks were motivated by a desire to put the two in their place.
In reaching his decision on sentencing, Walker entirely accepted Crown prosecution's position, which includes two years probation once Russell has finished his jail term.
If not for such mitigating factors as a rough childhood and Russell's decision to plead guilty before White went through cross examination, Walker said he would have imposed an even stiffer sentence.
Defence counsel had argued a sentence of time served was appropriate.
Russell was the last of the four to be sentenced and he received appreciably more than the others. Last month, Aldred was sentenced to 180 days less time served, adding up to a term of a day in jail.
In May, Morin received 45 days time served and one year probation and Relkey got 33 days time served.
