Early release ended early for a Prince George convict.
According to the Parole Board of Canada (PBC), the path back into jail for Antoinetta Angela
Pozzebon, 50, is a testament to the
power of drug addiction.
Parole is not usually granted to prisoners of the provincial jail system (two years less a day, maximum term), especially for someone like Pozzebon with more than 100 convictions for past infractions. Yet seven months into her 17-month sentence for a residential break-in and shopping spree with a stolen credit card, the PBC saw fit to allow her out into the custody of a halfway house in Prince George.
According to documents obtained by The Citizen, the corrections staff felt she was doing exceptionally well coming to terms with her addictions and behaviours.
As far back as 2001 a provincial court judge told Pozzebon it looked to him like her addiction to drugs "was far stronger than she was" and less than 40 days into her loosened supervision program, she disappeared from the halfway house.
She was unlawfully at large for more than a month but police eventually caught up with her after a highly publicized hunt. According to PBC documents, she was found at the home of someone close to her who had consistently been a bad influence on her in the past, and Pozzebon was once again letting her drug addiction direct her actions.
"You are in essence a poly-substance abuser, but your drug of choice is crack cocaine," said the PBC in a written ruling obtained by The Citizen.
The prolonged use of drugs was "the driving force" behind her 32 years of criminal history, the board noted, and the close family members most have to turn to are unavailable to her due to their abuse of drugs. The PBC did not bury Pozzebon's responsibility under the heap of drugs and family dynamics,
however.
"The decision you made to go [unlawfully at large] was within your control," said the ruling. "No doubt you re-associated with drug dealing elements to obtain a supply of illicit drugs for you to use to deal with unpleasant emotions, which feelings were once again stirred up by a dysfunctional close family relative who treated you in an emotionally abusive manner."
Pozzebon was recommitted to jail for the remainder of her
sentence.
