By Ragnar Haagen

Attempted robbery nets ex-con another 7 years

Feb 3, 2012 | 5:28 AM

A man who had dedicated the latter part of his life to robbing banks has been sentenced to seven years for a robbery that netted him nothing.

Jason Sunshine Wattendorf, 39, was originally charged with attempted robbery and using personal violence, but since that was not the case, he pleaded not guilty. It wasn’t until the morning of trial that counsel agreed to switch the charge to attempted robbery and assault.

In her decision, Justice A.R Rothery noted said that Wattendorf’s extensive criminal record (he was out on parole at the time of the attempted robbery) played a part in her sentencing him to seven years consecutive to his current term.

She also felt that while he did not produce a weapon during the robbery, the threat of violence that he made while in the employee’s office was an aggravating factor.

Crown prosecutor Shawn Blackmon had argued for a 10-year sentence, with no credit for remand and a firearm prohibition for life.

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“I think it was an appropriate sentence,” said Blackmon.

“The facts relied on by the court led strongly to the decision that it was not a spur of the moment decision or an impulse of any kind. There certainly was violence implied throughout …though it was not physically manifested, it was none the less implied.”

Wattendorf was represented by Greg Curtis, who suggested a sentence of three-and-a-half years but knew the decision could go either way.

“There’s quite the range of sentences that the judge had to deal with,” said Curtis.“There are cases out there where four or five years for this type of thing has been handed down and also 10 years, so sentencing is not an exact science. I was hoping for more in the range of five to six years.”

Curtis would not comment on whether his client would appeal, saying that decision would be left up to Wattendorf.

The Crime

On April 10, 2010, Wattendorf visited the Conexus Credit Union in the 2800 block of Second Avenue West under the premise that he wanted to open a bank account. When he was guided into an empty office by a bank employee and asked what sort of account he wanted, Wattendorf then acknowledged that he was there to rob the bank and demanded money.

The bank employee told Wattendorf that she would have to talk to her manager. He advised her to hurry up and not to call the police or he would hurt somebody.

Wattendorf then proceeded to mill about the lobby of the credit union for a brief period of time before leaving empty-handed.

He fled to Alberta, where he lived with his common law girlfriend for three months before he was caught and transported back to Saskatchewan, where he spent the next 19 months leading up to trial in segregation.

Criminal history

Wattendorf’s criminal history began in 1996. Since that time, he’s amassed 54 convictions and two parole violations. During a four month span between Feb. and May 2004, Wattendorf was convicted of robbing 10 different banks throughout Alberta, making away with a total of $40,000.

Each time, he would hand the tellers a note saying that this is a robbery and that he would shoot, but there is no evidence of a weapon ever being used. His only conviction for a firearm possession was during his first offence in ’96.

He was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison for those 10 robbery convictions in 2006, and had been on parole for three months before attempting to rob the Conexus Credit Union.

rhaagen@panow.com