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BARRHEAD - A Fort McMurray woman received a hefty fine after pleading guilty to driving without proper insurance.
Eden Joiece Muyco received a $3,000 fine from Justice Carrie-Anne Downey during a Sept. 10 Barrhead Court of Justice sitting.
Muyco will have a year to pay the fine. If she doesn't, she risks 45 days in jail.
Provincial traffic prosecutor C. Noble said the accused could not produce her insurance papers when a peace officer conducted a May 18 traffic stop.
Duty counsel Mac Walker said Muyco brought in her insurance pink slip for proof of insurance, but the paper did not prove that she was insured at the time of the offence.
Upon further questioning from Justice Downey, the accused admitted that she had no insurance at the time of the traffic stop.
"I was looking for [insurance]," Muyco said. "But when I was still in the process of doing that, I was evacuated [due to a wildfire, close to 7,000 Fort McMurray residents were placed under mandatory evacuation orders]".
Traffic Crown prosecutor C. Noble said $3,000 was the minimum legislated fine, adding that there wasn't a lot of leeway.
Justice Downey interjected from the total $2,500 was the fine and $500 was the victim fine surcharge.
She added she realized that the fine was a significant amount of money and, besides granting the accused's request for an extended time to pay the fine, she said that Muyco could reduce the financial burden through the Alberta Fine Options program, which allows people to work off a portion of their fines.
However, Noble noted that any reduction would be limited to the fine portion only, not the victim fine surcharge.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
