Accused in alleged $3-million theft ring to plead guilty
Email
Print
Letter to Editor
Share
Updated: September 25, 2009 1:52 PM
A Kamloops man has yet to enter a plea for a string of charges in connection to a $3-million theft ring that police say stretched from B.C. to Manitoba.
Cameron McElroy, 19, made a brief appearance by video in Kamloops provincial court on Friday to have his matters put off until Oct. 19 in B.C. Supreme Court, when it is expected he will plead guilty and fix a date to resolve the charges.
McElroy, a Thompson Rivers University business student, is facing 19 separate charges, while alleged partner-in-crime, 20-year-old Zachary Martin, is facing 24 charges.
Rather than having both men included on one information, their matters are being split up — meaning McElroy and Martin will each deal with their charges on their own.
Police allege the pair was involved in dozens of high-end break-ins in B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
They are alleged to have made off with $3 million in jewelry, cigarettes, electronics and cash from a number of businesses over a nine-month span, beginning last summer.
The charges are also connected to burglaries in other Interior communities, including Merritt, Salmon Arm, 100 Mile House, Kelowna and Penticton.
In addition to the B.C. charges, McElroy and Martin were charged in Winnipeg in February in connection to burglaries in the Manitoba city.
They were free on bail from Manitoba at the time of their June 2 arrests in Kamloops.
Charges are also pending against both men in Regina.
Crown prosecutor Chris Balison said the Crown is waiting for more information before formally laying those charges.
v2
