Day parole has been granted to Cory Sater, the Port Coquitlam man currently serving a seven-and-a-half year sentence in the hit-and-run drunk-driving crash that killed two women in 2011.
Sater, who had initially sought to appeal the sentence and conviction in the deaths of Charlene Reaveley and Lorraine Cruz, is expected to soon be transferred to a community residential facility, where he will subject to a series of conditions.
According to the Parole Board of Canada, he is not to consume alcohol or drugs and must avoid drinking establishments and people who he has reason to believe are involved in criminal activity or substance abuse.
The 43-year-old is also not allowed to operate a motor vehicle and cannot enter Coquitlam, PoCo or Port Moody without written authorization from his parole supervisor. While at the residential facility, Sater must complete a substance abuse treatment program and report all relationships with females to his supervisor.
Day parole can be granted as early as six months prior to full parole eligibility. Sater became eligible for full parole on Oct. 30, 2016, which means he has been eligible for day parole for close to a year.
Patrick Storey, a spokesperson for the Pacific Regional Office of the Parole Board of Canada, told The Tri-City News that a person on day parole is free to leave the facility to attend work or school or to run errands but they must sign in and out and are subject to curfews.
He noted that if there are any violations of the conditions, Sater could be sent back to prison. “If he breaches, they can issue a suspension warrant, he goes back into custody,” he said. “He has to behave himself.”
Sater was found guilty in 2014 of six charges, including two counts each of impaired driving and dangerous driving causing death, and one count each of dangerous driving and impaired driving causing bodily harm.
At trial, the court heard how Cruz and boyfriend Paulo Calimbahin had been involved in a minor traffic accident at Lougheed Highway and Pitt River Road, in front of Riverview, when Charlene and Dan Reaveley, along with friends Giacomo and Kimberly deBenedictis, stopped to assist.
Charlene Reaveley, a mother of four young children, was comforting Cruz on the side of the road when they were struck and killed by a white Jeep driven by Sater.
At the time of the incident, Sater was not licensed to drive and was prohibited from consuming alcohol because of a 2010 assault conviction. He had also twice received 24-hour roadside suspensions for being under the influence while operating a vehicle.
Justice James Williams sentenced to Sater three and a half years for leaving the scene of an accident and six years for the other charges. But because of a legal principle known as totality, which is used when consecutive sentences are ordered, the total sentence was brought down to seven and a half years. That means his sentence is scheduled to end on Oct. 31, 2021; his statutory release date, which comes after two thirds of a sentence is served, is expected on May 2, 2019.
gmckenna@tricitynews.com
@gmckennaTC
