Woman in prison for manslaughter admits to theft
Joe-Anna Hachey, 30, of Fredericton, violated terms of her release when she was in the wind on a drug binge, during which she shoplifted at an agency liquor store
A Fredericton woman who had a hand in a drug dealer’s death seven years ago has admitted to a new crime, though a far less-serious one: shoplifting.
Joe-Anna Hachey, 30, of Boyne Crescent, appeared in Fredericton provincial court by video-conference from the Nova Institution, a women’s prison on Truro, N.S., on Thursday.
She pleaded guilty to an Oct. 27 count of stealing liquor from the Cross Roads Irving in Hanwell.
Judge Scott Brittain delayed sentencing to May 23 to allow for the preparation of a victim-impact statement.
Defence lawyer Edward Derrah said a pre-sentence report wouldn’t be necessary.
Hachey is in prison serving a seven-year sentence for manslaughter stemming from the Jan. 26, 2017, shooting death of Robert John Smith, AKA Bobby Martin Jr.
She lured Smith to a Lincoln mini-home early that morning on the pretence of buying drugs, but she and Evan James Polchies, 36, were really planning on robbing the dealer when he arrived.
When Smith walked through the door, Polchies shot him in the groin. The bullet severed an artery, and though Smith was able to flee the scene, he died in hospital later that day.
Polchies and Hachey were arrested a few days later and originally charged with second-degree murder, but they later admitted separately to manslaughter.
Hachey committed the liquor theft last fall during a period when she was on her statutory release from prison. It’s an early release date mandated by legislation for almost all offenders.
She was deemed to be unlawfully at large after missing appointments with her case-management team, and a warrant was issued after her statutory release was suspended. In a decision issued last month, the Parole Board of Canada revoked that statutory release completely.
It marked the third time Hachey violated the terms of early release, landing her back behind bars. The first two times, she was on day parole, and it was discovered she was using drugs again, as was the case with her statutory-release period.
However, a spokesperson with the parole board told the Fredericton Independent this week that Hachey will get another kick at the can when it comes to early release.
“I am able to confirm that Joe-Anna Hachey’s [next] statutory release date is Aug. 23, 2023,” Michaela Kearns, a regional communications officer with the board, wrote in an email.
“When statutory release is revoked, an offender will remain in custody and a new statutory release date is calculated. The offender would then, by law, need to be released into the community once the new statutory release date comes into effect.”
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
Serve full sentences for all crimes because she is a slow leaner if that and a dangerous to society