A Langley man who stole cartons of cigarettes worth more than $57,000 from convenience store owners he stalked at Costco stores has been sentenced to two years less a day in jail and three years probation.
Christopher Sharafi has also been ordered to pay about $40,000 in restitution to the people he robbed. The balance has been covered by the victims’ insurance.
Earlier this year, Sharafi, 46, pleaded guilty to 16 counts of theft, four charges of possession of stolen property, one charge of break and enter and one count of possessing break-in instruments. Most of the thefts were cigarettes, but Sharafi also stole licence plates and lottery tickets. The offences took place during a one-year crime spree between January 2012 and January 2013.
At Sharafi’s sentencing hearing, prosecutor Christine Lowe asked the court to impose a sentence of two years less a day followed by the maximum period of three years probation to allow Sharafi to make restitution to the people he robbed.
Sharafi’s defence lawyer, Kris Pechet, asked for a conditional sentence order to allow Sharafi to work and repay his victims.
Provincial court Judge Anthony Palmer agreed with the Crown, saying Sharafi’s conduct must be denounced in the strongest terms.
“The nature of the offences themselves and their impact on the victims is a seriously aggravating factor. The activities involved stalking behaviour, watching, following and serious property damage and a callous disregard for the inconvenience and emotional and financial trauma his actions would cause,” Palmer said.
Sharafi, who was arrested in January, must spend another 201Ú2 months in jail. He is forbidden to go to any Costco store in B.C. or to be on Vancouver Island. He must also attend counselling.
The Regional Crime Unit began investigating in June 2012 when a large quantity of cigarettes was stolen from a parked car in Saanich. Investigators believed the small business owner had been followed home after buying the cigarettes at Costco.
Police soon identified a number of similar cases in Greater Victoria, Nanaimo, Abbotsford, Coquitlam and Kamloops. Car windows were smashed or tires slashed. Police linked a total of 28 cases of cigarette theft from Costco customers throughout B.C. and identified a suspect vehicle: a brown Pontiac van using a variety of stolen licence plates, including one set stolen from a car outside the Long Lake Inn in Nanaimo.
Sharafi, whose wife owned the van, was placed under surveillance and on Jan. 22 police watched him lurking in the Costco parking lot in Nanaimo for six hours. The next day, they watched him follow a car from the parking lot to a nearby restaurant and steal $3,200 worth of cigarettes.
Palmer described the thefts as brazen, quick, precise and violent.
Pechet told the sentencing hearing his client was stealing the cigarettes to make money for a gambling addiction. He described Sharafi as a good father and husband who has a lot of support in the community. He is now “ashamed, embarrassed and contrite,” Pechet said.
Palmer found Sharafi’s moral culpability was high.
“He did not take steps to get his gambling addiction under control and stole from other people to feed and support it,” he said.
