A P.E.I. man with a history of convictions for driving while disqualified pleaded guilty on Monday in Supreme Court of P.E.I. for another charge of driving while disqualified.
This is the ninth time Preston James Blaisdell, 34, has been convicted of the offence. Justice Tracey Clements adjourned sentencing until Wednesday to consider the joint recommendation.
Court heard that on March 12, a Stratford RCMP officer spotted Blaisdell driving a 2001 GMC Jimmy on the Trans-Canada Highway near the detachment. The officer recognized Blaisdell from previous encounters and pulled him over on a nearby side street. While pulled over, the officer noticed that Blaisdell was trying to switch seats with a female passenger. The female was still trying to slide into the driver’s seat and had her right leg in the passenger’s side of the console when the officer arrived at the vehicle.
Blaisdell was also charged with possession of a stolen licence plate, but that charge was stayed.
In provincial court on May 8, Blaisdell had pleaded not guilty to driving while disqualified but changed his plea to guilty on Monday.
Blaisdell was sentenced on June 20 to nine months in jail for another driving while disqualified offence and possession of a stolen licence plate on Feb. 28. Crown attorney Valerie Moore noted that it was an aggravating factor that the two offences occurred 12 days apart.
For the Feb. 28 offences, Blaisdell received credit of five months for time already spent in custody, leaving four months on the sentence. Blaisdell was also banned from driving for three years.
Moore told the court a joint sentence recommendation was reached with Blaisdell’s lawyer. The sides are recommending a sentence of eight months in jail consecutive to any other sentences with credit for time served since Blaisdell’s March 12 arrest. There was no recommendation for probation.
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