No jail time for Stanley Cup rioter

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A UBC graduate who looted during the Stanley Cup riot has been sentenced, but will not serve any jail time.

Camille Cacnio of Richmond stole two pairs of size 42 men’s tuxedo pants and a tie during the riot. The 23-year-old has been given two years of probation and will have to abide by a one-year curfew. She will also have to complete 150 hours of community service.

Cacnio’s lawyer Jason Tarnow says the sentence fits.

“If you really look at what Miss Cacnio did (taking two pairs of men’s giant pants, they were of no use to her and returned), I think the sentence that was delivered is quite proportionate to her actions.”

The judge in the case ruled Cacnios’ limited participation and public vilification by the news media and social media have had a greater punishing effect.

“All you have to do today is Google her name to find blogs and photographs and nasty images about her,” Tarnow adds, pointing out that was taken into account as deterrence for future sentences. “The public is well aware of the role the internet plays in our life right now.  All it takes is a simple photograph from one of our cameraphones and your life can be turned upside down.”

Court heard Cacnio had been at a friend’s apartment consuming alcohol before deciding to go into the downtown core where rioting was taking place.  The judge says she can be seen on YouTube video laughing as she participated in looting.

But he also noted Cacnio has experienced “karma,” as she tripped and fell on broken glass soon after, an injury that required stitches.

Cacnio wrote a blog explaining her actions in the days after the riot. But in light of more negative reaction, she replaced it with an apology.

Cacnio has been referred to as ‘promising’ after completing a bachelor’s degree in biology.  She hopes to become a conservation biologist.

She filed numerous reference letters to the court, describing her as “honest, hard-working, smart, caring, generous and compassionate.”

The court heard she was harassed at her UBC classes by other students. She’s been fired from a total of three jobs.

Crown counsel has been seeking jail time for each suspected rioter, 15 to 30 days in this case, but spokesman Neil Mackenzie won’t say if that strategy will change based on precedence.  “The courts and the Crown will have to look at each individual case and each individual offender, and the circumstances of what that person has done in the context of the riot.”