According to the judgement published on Nov. 27, Norlene Dale White, 66, was sentenced on Oct. 17 in Penticton court after being found guilty in 2024 by a jury of four charges of fraud over $5,000, two charges of use of a forged document and one charge of attempted fraud.

White used her sisters, for whom she was caretaker, in her scheme to defraud the government. She herself was also supported by the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction and received benefits from them, including some that were fraudulently claimed.

Out of the total, $72,000 of the fraud was attributed to claims that specialized vehicles were required to transport White’s sisters to medical appointments beyond the normal costs of mileage between 2014 and 2021. Out of the 79 approved requests for Ministry funding for the special vehicles beyond the normal mileage, 75 did not actually use those vehicles.

The second fraud involved claiming moving expenses from Osoyoos to Nanaimo, based on White’s landlord, David Johnson, providing a false letter to submit to the Ministry.

A year later, White claimed expenses for moving her sisters from Osoyoos to Penticton, with Johnson once again providing a letter claiming the home the sisters were living in was slated to be demolished. This time, there was no evidence the Ministry paid the claimed expenses, which led to the attempted fraud charge.

White claimed the sisters had to move a second time, this time from Penticton to Okanagan Falls in 2015, claiming their residence had been sold and claiming $9,660 in expenses.

The last and most extensive fraud, which lasted from 2004 to 2021, involved White claiming support and benefits while failing to inform the ministry that she was living with Johnson, failing to inform the Ministry that they were in a marriage-like relationship and failing to disclose any of his assets.

That led to $261,000 in benefits being disbursed to her by the Ministry over those 17 years.

Defence for White sought to have her receive a two-year conditional sentence that would be served in the community, followed by three years of probation.

A maximum sentence for the fraud was 14 years in jail, with 10 years the maximum for the forged documents.

None of the case-law presented for the sentencing had amounts similar to White’s fraud. The only other one that came close, R. v. Oliynyk from 2002, involved spouses who pleaded guilty to defrauding the Department of Social Services of approximately $157,000.

“As noted, the amount appears to be unprecedented when viewed against other welfare fraud cases,” said Justice Giaschi.

The length of time of the various schemes, the deliberation and planning involved and the use of her sisters in the frauds were also noted by Giaschi as aggravating factors.

After considering the aggravating factors and the mitigating ones, including the letters of support, Justice Giaschi sentenced White to serve a total of three years in jail, which he reduced to 30 months after considering the Crown’s position and White’s age.

Defence had also sought a smaller restitution order than the full $350,000, but Justice Giaschi rejected the claim that paying the full amount would bankrupt her where a $150,000 order would not.

“The very nature of the offences of which she has been convicted means that her assets are hidden and her financial means is unclear,” said Justice Giaschi.

The Justice gave White until April of 2026 to pay the Minsitry of Finance the restitution.

The arson case against Donald Richard Lorenzetto is set to have its own trial starting Dec. 9.

The judgment, published on Nov. 12, is the transcript of Justice E. McDonald’s oral decision from the conclusion of the three-day trial over Oct. 28 to 30, 2025.

Lorenzetto was found guilty of aggravated assault on May 16, 2023, and guilty of the intimidation of a participant in the justice system that began the day after the 2022 fire to 2024, involving repeated threats against Jordan Wall and his family over speaking to the police.

Both Wall and Lorenzetto were described as having known each other for years, as they lived on the streets, and had been one-time friends.

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After being picked up by the police during the investigation into the 2022 fire that destroyed the Toyota dealership, that relationship vanished.

“Mr. Wall said that after they were released from custody, the accused told him numerous times that he better not talk to the police, go to court or rat on him,” said Justice McDonald. “Mr. Wall said that on numerous occasions afterwards he was threatened by the accused and the accused’s friend, “Bullet”. When asked what words the accused used, Mr. Wall testified that he told him not to talk about the arson and not to say anything. Mr. Wall also said that the accused and Bullet told Mr. Wall that if he said anything about the arson incident, Mr. Wall and his family members would get hurt and be put in danger.”

The threats were made constantly, both against him personally and against his family, who also live in Penticton, and the witness believed that Lorenzetto had connections throughout the city with other people.

On the day of the assault, the witness had gone into the alley behind a liquor store with some friends and was planning to roll up some marijuana he had just purchased.

While trying to keep an eye on Lorenzetto while still rolling his joint, the witness stated that he had lost sight of Lorenzetto briefly, and that when he looked up, the man was walking up to him and kicking him in the face.

The injury required reconstructive surgery to keep the witness’ face from being permanently caved in, and multiple plates and screws were required to fix the fractures to his cheek and around his eye. The injury left the witness with a significant and permanent scar.

Justice McDonald found that despite Wall’s admitted history of substance use, his testimony was coherent, consistent and believable.

“In cross-examination, Mr. Wall was also asked when the last time he used illicit drugs, and he answered, ‘Three to four days ago.’ When asked what drugs he was using in May 2023, Mr. Wall said he did not know and he was not using very much because he was mostly smoking marijuana,” reads the judgment. “He said that around the time of the assault, he was being threatened a lot, and he was trying to keep safe and be aware of his surroundings. He agreed that the use of drugs affected his memory a little bit, but not totally, because he could remember dates and when things had happened. He also said he avoided using drugs to the point that he became totally unaware or unconscious. I found that he provided a reasonable explanation for the state of his memory.”

The Justice also noted that from the testimony of the outreach worker who had interacted with the witness that day, including following the assault with the visible cut to the face, that he was high but still coherent and responsive to the point of carrying on a conversation.

Despite Wall’s claim that he had only been using marijuana and the lack of any direct witnesses to the assault, Justice McDonald found that the totality of the testimony was persuasive and did not leave room for reasonable doubt in the case.

Sentencing will come at a later, currently unspecified date.

Five months after a judge heard submissions on a convoluted scheme involving fake Instagram accounts and doctored images of minors, a former Penticton youth leader will not spend time in jail.

Scott Vanderburg, 35, had his sentence read out in Kelowna Court on Nov. 15, according to online documents, after previously appearing in Penticton, where he had pleaded guilty to creating child sexual abuse material and distributing child sexual abuse material as defined under the Canadian Criminal Code.

A publication ban applies to the case and covers anything that might identify any of the witnesses or victims involved.

During the submissions by the Crown and Vanderburg’s defence on June 30 in Penticton regarding an appropriate sentence, the court heard the details of the unique case.

It was stated that Vanderburg was originally arrested in 2022 on suspicion of having sexually interfered with a minor.

After being released from police custody, he exited and then returned to the detachment to admit what actually happened, leading to his second arrest that day on the charges he later pleaded guilty to in court. Prior to his arrest, Vanderburg was a member of the Bethel Church in Penticton and a youth group leader.

Three youths were involved in the case, either as victims or witnesses, with Vanderburg impersonating the victim as well as another account to spread further allegations and rumours of being in a relationship with the victim.

The impersonated account had sent messages to one witness claiming the relationship, which led to the original arrest. Vanderburg and then the youth both denied those claims in statements to the police.

Yet another account surfaced after a school counsellor brought forward messages sent to a different witness, which also alluded to a sexual relationship between the victim and Vanderburg, and that further included a doctored image of Youth Two with what appeared to be semen all over their face.

Minutes after Vanderburg’s release from police custody for his first arrest, he returned to admit that he had fabricated the accounts and messages, as well as sending the doctored image.

He was promptly arrested for the second time, and the subsequent search of his phone by the police found the usage of websites for the manipulation of images in a sexual manner, as well as 30 additional images of adult female bodies with the youth’s face superimposed on them.

Crown noted at the June 30 court appearance that the position of trust that Vanderburg held was an aggravating factor in the case, while also noting that, unlike most other cases involving the charge of producing child sexual abuse material, in this case, no child was abused to create the material involved.

Defence had also pointed to the potential impact on his medical care as one of the reasons to consider house arrest, and that the pre-sentencing report found him to be a low-to-moderate risk for reoffending.

Due to the lack of comparable cases and precedent, the judge had requested additional time to come to a decision on an appropriate sentence.

Crown wanted an 18-month jail sentence, followed by three years of probation, including a no-contact order with the youths involved, while the defence wanted a conditional sentence, which would be served in the community instead of in jail.

According to the court documents, the judge deemed the defence’s position the appropriate one and gave Vanderburg a conditional sentence of 18 months, followed by an 18-month probation.

Vanderburg was also ordered to pay $400 in victim crime surcharges and to submit to mandatory DNA submission into the national database.