SASKATOON – A Sweetgrass First Nation man, currently facing three counts of second-degree murder, has been sentenced on violence-related charges in a separate incident.
Nakota Rayne Pooyak, 31, appeared as a prisoner in Saskatoon Provincial Court on Aug. 12, where the court dealt with multiple charges, including two of aggravated assault.
On one count of aggravated assault, Pooyak was sentenced to 372 days in jail. However, with enhanced credit for time already served on remand, calculated at a rate of 1.5 days for each day in custody, he was credited for 558 days, meaning no additional time. A second count of aggravated assault was stayed by the Crown.
One of the victims in the assault case was Zennen Thomas, who was charged with second-degree murder in the 2022 death of Kaylum Tom.
In addition to the jail sentence, Pooyak was ordered to submit a DNA sample to the National DNA Databank and was handed a lifetime firearm prohibition. He received a consecutive 30-day sentence for a charge of being unlawfully at large while on a release order. Several other charges, including failing to comply with a probation order and obstruction, were stayed.
Pooyak’s latest convictions are separate from the murder charges. He faces three counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Brent Peters, 66, and his two sons Matthew, 32, and Brennan, 34. The victims were found dead inside their Lloydminster, Sask., home on Sept. 11, 2024, after RCMP responded to a well-being check around 5:51 p.m. in the area of 50 Street and 47 Avenue.
In the triple homicide, Pooyak was later arrested at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre, where he had been in custody on unrelated charges.
Pooyak has a history of violent encounters with law enforcement. In February 2023, Highway 16 near Waseca was shut down for six hours during an armed standoff between Pooyak and RCMP officers. The confrontation occurred as police attempted to arrest him on a Canada-wide warrant for federal parole violations.
According to parole documents, Pooyak has a lengthy and violent criminal history, which includes weapon offences, assaults, robberies, forcible confinement, intimidation, threats, drug possession, fraud, and fleeing police. Parole documents cite family fragmentation, negative associations, and cultural disconnection as contributing factors to his cycle of crime.
Raised by a young mother and extended family, Pooyak began using drugs and alcohol as a teen and later joined a street gang. Though he claimed to have left the gang while in provincial custody, authorities said he continued to be high risk due to his associations, attitude, and substance abuse.
lisa.joy@saskcrime.ca
