Colin Wheeler added nine months onto the federal sentence he is already serving, as he was sentenced Tuesday for intimidating a Supreme Court judge and threatening to kill a Crown prosecutor.
Wheeler, 38, was sentenced in provincial court in St. John's, though he had made the threats in Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court in Corner Brook last August.
Wheeler had been appearing in the courtroom at the time via videolink from Her Majesty's Penitentiary, and was due to be sentenced for prior convictions. Before the judge entered, Wheeler told prosecutor Lori St. Croix, "Suck my d---, bitch," and "I'll f---ing slit your throat" a number of times. He then proceeded to whisper the same threat while gnashing his teeth.
Once proceedings began, Wheeler told Justice George Murphy, "F--- everybody, f--- you, too."
When Murphy said he wouldn't proceed with Wheeler behaving the way he was, Wheeler asked the judge how a specific member of his family was doing.
As a result, Wheeler was charged with two counts of intimidating a participant in the justice system and one count of uttering threats. He pleaded guilty.
Wheeler, who represented himself at his sentencing hearing Tuesday, told provincial court Judge James Walsh he had made the statements because he wanted Murphy off his case. Wheeler said he had dated a member of the judge's family for two years.
“I was really upset that he was the judge appointed on my case. I held resentment on that fact all throughout the court case, but no matter what I tried to do to have him step down, nothing worked," Wheeler said. "My thinking was obviously not appropriate or justified either, but my thinking at the time was I was going to try and get a different judge and a different Crown prosecutor to deal with me on the sentencing on this charge."
Walsh pointed out that making the comments to Murphy and St. Croix in an effort to get them to remove themselves is the exact definition of intimidation.
Wheeler was sentenced last month to 3 1/2 years in prison for charges of assault with a knife, mischief and breaching court orders in connection with an incident involving two women on the west coast last year.
The next day, he received a further 13 months behind bars for a range of crimes he committed inside HMP since his arrest, including multiple charges of pulling the fire alarm, assaulting inmates, assaulting a correctional officer by throwing urine at her and later threatening her life, and damaging prison property.
Wheeler was back in court last week, when he earned a further 30 days in jail for punching a correctional officer in the face.
On Tuesday, Wheeler suggested an additional five months on his current sentence for the intimidation and threats, saying he had no intention to hurt anyone.
He told the judge he has been diagnosed with 10 mental illnesses, for which he has not been receiving medication in HMP.
Walsh sided with the Crown, sentencing Wheeler to nine months in jail, to be served once his other terms are finished.
Wheeler will be transferred to a federal prison on the mainland to serve the rest of his sentence.
Twitter: @tara_bradbury
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