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Sydora pleads guilty to uttering threats

House arrest and probation for threats made toward Ashmont School, Saddle Lake and Goodfish Lake
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ST. PAUL - A man charged with uttering threats toward two First Nations communities and threatening to burn down a local school last year plead guilty in a St. Paul courtroom on July 9, and was sentenced to house arrest and probation.

Andrew Sydora, 70, was charged with three counts of uttering threats on Nov. 3, 2019. The Ashmont resident threatened harm toward people living in Saddle Lake and Goodfish Lake, along with the threats toward Ashmont School.

According to St. Paul Crown Prosecutor Jordan Kerr, two of the three counts were withdrawn and one count was amended to reflect the fact that the threats were all made the same day and within the same conversation.

Originally, the first count was for threatening to burn down Ashmont School. The second charge was for uttering threats toward the community of Saddle Lake Cree Nation; and the third was in regards to threats made toward Whitefish (Goodfish) Lake First Nation. 

Before the guilty plea was entered, an application to amend the second count was put forward to reflect all the threats that were uttered in one charge. Once that change was made, the guilty plea was entered, with Sydora agreeing that he did make the statements and threats. The other two charges were withdrawn.

A Conditional Sentence Order (CSO) of 30 days was handed down, which is equivalent to house arrest, explained Kerr. The second part of the sentencing was 11 months probation.

Following the charges in November, community meetings were held, and buses did not run from Saddle Lake to Ashmont School for a period of time. Many parents and community members, at the time, spoke out about how they did not feel safe sending children to a school where the accused was a resident.


Janice Huser

About the Author: Janice Huser

Janice Huser has been with the St. Paul Journal since 2006. She is a graduate of the SAIT print media journalism program, is originally from St. Paul and has a passion for photography.
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