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Kelowna  

Injury, addiction, crime

A Kelowna man's path from injury to addiction and a life of crime is all too familiar. 

Whether he continues on that path will be up to him – when he's released from prison in 190 days. 

Arley Markiewicz has served 175 days behind bars for a crime spree that ran from January to May.

Markiewicz grew up in a less than desirable household, according to his defence lawyer, but managed to stay out of trouble throughout his youth.

At 19, he was involved in a quadding accident. After a number of surgeries, one of his legs was amputated, and he was prescribed morphine and Dilantin to manage his pain.

Markiewicz was in custody Friday, watching his trial proceedings via video, stone-faced, as his story was presented to the judge.

At 26, in September 2014, Markiewicz’s prescription was cut off by his doctor. After years of prescribed opiate use, he was addicted, and began to get his fix from the street. To feed his habit, crime soon followed.

On Jan. 22, 2015, he was found stealing fuel from an industrial area on Acland Road.

Markiewicz was released on bail, but turned up three weeks later when he was found breaking into a storage yard. He was charged again and released on bail.

The cycle continued, quite literally, when two stolen bikes sold to pawn shops in Kelowna were traced back to him in early May, followed by him stealing two motorized scooters from an underground parking garage at an apartment building on Leon Avenue.

He has been in custody since June.

Since then, Markiewicz has been taking courses offered by the prison in an attempt to turn his life around.

He was given the opportunity to address the court before sentencing.

Markiewicz said: “During that period of time, I was addicted to heroin and I was just trying to feed my habit. I’m kind of glad I got caught, because I was out of control … I couldn’t break that circle.”

He apologized for his actions, becoming emotional on the video feed.

“I’m sorry for everything I’ve done to everybody, and I just want to make my life better.”

Markiewicz was given a 15-month sentence for his crime spree. After credit for time served, he's left with 190 days in custody.

Once he is released, Markiewicz said he plans to become a heavy machinery operator.

“I want to live life,” he said. “I want to be a law-abiding citizen.”



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