BUFFALO NARROWS — A man who was manager of Buffalo Narrows Broadcasting Corporation (CIBN) has been sentenced after pleading guilty to fraud from a community radio station.
Michael Bouvier admitted to the court that he was addicted to crack cocaine and used the funds to pay for drugs, alcohol and personal debts. He stole $221,639 from CIBN between Jan. 1, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2017.
Bouvier was sentenced to two years less a day but his provincial jail sentence will be served in the community through a Conditional Sentence Order (CSO) under strict conditions. He has also been ordered to pay back the money.
“It is clear from both the impact statements submitted on behalf of CIBN as well as the input from the board members at the sentencing circle, that the impact of Mr. Bouvier’s actions on the radio station, and by extension, the community, cannot be overstated,” said Judge Michael Segu in his August written decision. “It is by sheer force of will of the board members that the radio station even exists today. Mr. Bouvier’s actions caused, amongst other impacts, an inability for the radio station to upgrade when their cable system became obsolete.”
Judge Segu said Bouvier’s actions had a crippling effect on the small radio station. Board members told the court the station almost collapsed. They were left struggling to pay bills and were unable to upgrade old equipment. The board members had to spend thousands of hours of their own time, without pay, to keep the station running.
“Despite their herculean effort, their public reputations have been substantially tarnished, as they are all painted with the same brush as Mr. Bouvier by members of the community,” said Judge Segu. “The anger felt by the board members was clearly palpable at the sentencing circle, even eight years removed from the offence. While Mr. Bouvier has turned his life around since the offence in 2017, the board members and the community have been left to pick up the pieces.”
For the first 12 months of Bouvier’s CSO, he will be on 24 hours house arrest, only allowed to leave with permission. He will also wear an ankle monitor. He is required to attend addiction and personal counselling programs and write a public apology to CIBN.
Following Bouvier’s CSO, he will be on three years of probation.
