SENTENCE - SIX MONTH JOINT SUBMISSION UPHELD

The sentencing judge, who was sentencing Mr. Seppola for refusal, accepted a joint submission of six months’ jail and a three-year driving prohibition. He took into account six prior convictions for impaired driving and two prior convictions for driving while disqualified, and noted the convictions were dated, the first one in 1980 and the last in 2007. Mr. Seppola appealed the sentence and his appeal was dismissed, but not before some strong comments from the Alberta Court of Appeal:

There is no reason whatsoever to interfere with this sentence. It is not a harsh sentence that exceeds a sentence in the appropriate range. Indeed, this sentence may be characterized as lenient. The appellant is a recidivist impaired driver and his criminal record would have justified a much harsher sentence. R. v. Seppola, 2018 ABCA 116