Prison time for man who torched own home
Ryanne Joseph Pineda, 35, of Fredericton, trapped tenant in basement bedroom by setting fire outside door, blames erratic behaviour on crack-cocaine addiction
A Fredericton man who endangered the life of a tenant by setting a fire outside his bedroom door in March is headed to federal prison for his crimes.
Ryanne Joseph Pineda, 35, of McLeod Hill, appeared in person in custody Monday for his sentencing hearing in provincial court, clad in orange, jail-issued sweats as he sat in the courtroom prisoner’s dock.
He’s previously pleaded guilty to counts of arson and breach of a release order.
Crown prosecutor Brett Stanford told court Monday said emergency personnel were dispatched to Pineda’s home at 46 Sunset Blvd. the night of March 29 after receiving a report of a fire.
Upon arrival, he said, police and firefighters discovered there was someone in the home - Michael Sweeney, a tenant who was renting a room in the basement of Pineda’s home.
“Mr. Sweeney was trapped inside,” the prosecutor said.
The investigation revealed Sweeney had been asleep in his room that night but was awakened to the sound of wood being dropped on the floor just outside his bedroom door, court heard.
Pineda was piling wood in front of the door, Stanford said, and he lit it on fire.
The offender knew Sweeney was home because he’d been in the house using drugs and acting erratically and paranoid, he said.
Pineda was arrested that night, the prosecutor said, but after a bail hearing April 11, he was released on conditions and a $10,000 surety.
But on April 17, Stanford said, city police responded to 230 Main St., the location of East Coast Vape, a business owned by Pineda.
Staff at the store told police Pineda had shown up, locked them out and was taking items from the shelves, court heard.
One of the conditions of Pineda’s release was for him to remain at his home save for limited exceptions, the prosecutor said, and when officers checked there for him, he wasn’t there.
They found him that same night at about 8 p.m. at the Days Inn, Stanford said, and he was arrested and has remained in custody since then.
Pineda agreed he committed those offences, but he denied that he locked his employees out of his store.
Stanford noted Pineda has a prior criminal record, but not for related offences.
He said the aggravating factors in the case - the decision to set a fire right outside an occupied bedroom, especially when the intended victim was asleep - merited a prison sentence.
The prosecutor asked the court to impose 31 months in prison for the arson, but an additional month for the breach, less credit time spent on remand.
Defence lawyer Emily Cochrane emphasized the mitigating factors in the case: Pineda’s expressions of remorse, the fact he accepts responsibility and his guilty pleas.
In his pre-sentence report interview, she noted, Pineda said, “I’m grateful no one got hurt.”
At the root of her client’s behaviour, Cochrane said, was his addiction issues. He was using crack cocaine repeatedly in the time leading up to his initial arrest, she said.
“He’s sober now and he knows he can’t be going down this path,” the defence counsel said, noting his plan is to pursue treatment for his drug issue upon his release
“There is rehabilitative potential here, your honour.”
However, Cochrane said, prison offers programs that will help Pineda in that goal, so the defence was recommending a prison sentence as well: two years plus a day on a go-forward basis - the minimum length of a federal-prison term.
Essentially, the defence lawyer asked the court to impose a 31-month sentence, which would end up as a two-year sentence after a remand credit is applied.
Pineda tried to read a prepared statement to the court, but became overwhelmed with emotion, so Cochrane read it for him.
“I’m an addict and I regret my actions,” he wrote. “My downward spiral is no one’s fault but my own.”
His issues flowed from the end of his marriage and separation from his young son, who remains in his mother’s care, the statement said.
“Your honour, I have learned my lesson.”
Pineda said his sobriety is now his top priority, as he doesn’t want to miss any more milestones in his young son’s life.
Judge Anne Dugas-Horsman said Pineda had normally been a contributing member of society, but his actions the night of March 29 “could have had fatal consequences.”
The Crown and defence didn’t present a joint recommendation on sentence, she said, but they were close. Ultimately, the judge imposed a total sentence of 32 months. After the remand credit, that makes Pineda’s remaining sentence 25 months.
Dugas-Horsman also imposed a 10-year prohibition against possessing firearms and other weapons.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
He should have claimed he was Indigenous. Precedent has been set. House arrest because of their troubled childhoods. Justice in Canada sadly is not blind.