The fourth and final person charged in the wake of a Guelph man’s death last fall has pleaded guilty.
But it’s undetermined whether Jason Richardson will also walk free, like his three counterparts, because of six other charges he also pleaded guilty to for an unrelated matter.
Justice Nicole Redgate did not render a decision on the matter, choosing to schedule a sentencing date for Nov. 7.
Richardson, 40, pleaded guilty to committing an indignity to a dead body in Guelph’s Ontario Court of Justice on Tuesday.
This is in connection with the investigation into the Oct. 2023 death of a man police only identified as ‘Kenny.’ The investigation included a lengthy search of a home on Guelph Street.
Details of the case are protected under a publication ban until the matter is concluded.
A joint submission was handed into court, asking for an 18-month sentence for the indignity charge.
Co-accused Christopher Hanley and Darcy McGee were previously sentenced to 18 months on the same charge, but were released from custody after being credited with time served in pre-sentence custody.
The third co-accused, Lindsay Zinger, was given a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to accessory after the fact to the indignity charge.
Richardson also pleaded guilty to six other charges for a separate incident that happened around the same time as the homicide investigation.
According to an agreed statement of facts, a Honda Civic vehicle that was parked on the street was stolen in late September 2023.
The vehicle was found Oct. 6 in an undisclosed apartment building parking lot. Richardson was observed by officers later in the day going into the vehicle, placing a backpack inside of it.
The court heard an non-uniformed officer identified himself and told him he was under arrest.
“In response to this, Mr. Richardson began running away, preventing his arrest,” Crown attorney Christine Liu read to the court, adding Richardson was keeping a vehicle between him and the officer.
“That officer requested Mr. Richardson to show the officer his hands, and he began running back towards the stolen vehicle.”
After a brief pursuit, and a struggle that saw Richardson roll on top of the officer at one point, he was arrested.
“Three officers were required, as well as the use of a taser,” Liu told the court.
All three officers suffered minor injuries as a result of the struggle, in the form of bruises and scrapes.
The keys to the stolen vehicle and a spring-loaded knife were found on Richardson after the arrest.
The vehicle, Liu added, had a stolen licence plate inside, as well as other items including knives, stolen mail, crystal meth, fentanyl, stolen credit cards, stolen gift cards and stolen membership cards.
Richardson was also under an order not to be in possession of a weapon.
He pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property above $5,000, possessing stolen credit cards, assault to resist arrest, possessing a weapon while prohibited, possessing a concealed weapon and breaching probation.
For those six charges, the joint sentencing submission requests six months in jail, to be served consecutively to the 18 month sentence, bringing the full custodial sentence request to two years.
Richardson served 10 days in jail following his initial arrest on Oct. 6. He was released, and arrested again on Oct. 31, and has been in jail ever since.
That amounts to 375 days in pre-sentence custody, or one year and 10 days.
Richardson would still have five-and-a-half months to serve in jail just on the basic remand credit, where he would be given 1.5 days for every day served in pre-sentence custody.
Richardson is left with 165 days, which defence lawyer Richard Allman requested be credited due to the conditions at Maplehurst Correctional Complex.
Crown attorney Christine Liu disagrees, suggesting Richardson “shouldn’t be subject” to more credit than what McGee and Hanley received.
For reference, Hanley received 67 additional days credit. McGee was given 85 days credit.
