A B.C. Supreme Court judge sentenced the 52-year-old businessman on Tuesday to a conditional sentence of two years less one day to be served in the community, according to CBC News report. He must keep the peace and be of good behavior, perform 200 hours of community service and keep a nightly curfew — but Justice Gordon Weatherill said he didn't see the need to incarcerate the mining executive whose Midas touch once earned him the moniker 'Kid Rock' from Canadian Business Magazine.
"There is no evidence that he is any form of danger to the public," Weatherill wrote in his reasons for sentencing, according to CBC News. "No reason has been proffered by the Crown that he cannot serve his sentence in the community."
A B.C. Supreme Court jury convicted Reynolds last October of failing to report $609,000 in taxable income in 2004 and 2005, failing to submit $121,000 in GST and attempting to defraud the federal government of an amount in excess of $5,000 by claiming false losses on tax returns.
The amount of the fraud was a bone of contention between the Crown, which sought a three-and-a-half-year jail sentence, and the defense which argued that a 20-month conditional sentence would be plenty.
Reynolds was accused of vastly inflating his business losses in 2007 and 2008 in order to reduce his tax liabilities by millions. According to the outlet, the judge acknowledged that the amount was "substantial" but said that given the way the evidence was presented and the way the charge was drafted there was no way to determine what the jury made of the magnitude of the attempted fraud when they convicted Reynolds — beyond the fact that it was more than $5,000.
Reynolds' lawyer said his client had a "tumultuous" childhood full of poverty and violence at the hands of his father. "He and his mother and siblings lived in a low-cost hotel. His father then attempted to kill his mother by stabbing her multiple times with a screwdriver. He was convicted and went to jail," the judgment says.
The judgment doesn't mention Ioulia Reynolds. He and his current wife Emma live in a rented apartment in Vancouver.
The site claims that Reynolds' children, friends, associates, business and romantic partners all said they were shocked to learn he had been convicted of fraud.
They wrote letters describing him as "fiercely loyal, selfless, greatly respected, well-liked in the community, fair, thoughtful, caring, honorable, courteous, kind, creative, considerate, dependable, committed, honest, inspiring, loyal, supportive, trustworthy, reliable, engaging and genuine."
But the Crown argued that Weatherill should focus instead on two key qualities that eluded Reynolds in the context of his conviction: "honesty" and "integrity."
Prosecutors said those are the components that serve as the bedrock for the Canadian tax system. Reynolds didn't plead guilty, forcing a 21-day trial, and he has made no attempts to pay back the money he owes, reports CBC News. The judge described Reynolds as a "'deal-making entrepreneur' who left the details to others" like lawyers and accountants.
He had no prior criminal record, but Weatherill said there was no doubt his "moral culpability" was high. The judge was also impressed by the letters of support.
"They demonstrate that, but for the offenses for which he is now being sentenced, Mr. Reynolds is a man of good behavior and is unlikely to re-offend," the judge wrote.
He also fined Reynolds $121,179. But because Damien is in the middle of bankruptcy proceedings, he has 12 months to pay the money, reports the outlet.
Reynolds made several appearances during the second season of RHOV as his then-wife, Ioulia was a full-time cast member.
Photo Credit: Slice, Canadian Business
