Prosecution service to challenge Michael Sona's sentence
Nine-month sentence fails to 'reflect the gravity of the offence,' prosecution service says
The Public Prosecution Service of Canada wants to challenge the nine-month sentence Michael Sona received for election fraud.
A notice of appeal was filed today arguing that the sentence handed down to Sona was "demonstrably unfit and (failed) to reflect the gravity of the offence."
Sona was the only person to be charged and convicted in the 2011 robocalls scandal.
Thousands of voters received automated phone calls on the morning of the 2011 federal election with misleading information about their proper polling station.
Sona was granted bail on Dec. 1 after applying for an appeal of his sentence and conviction.
In granting bail, Ontario Appeal Court Justice Harry LaForme described Sona as the first person in Canada ever convicted of wilfully preventing or endeavouring to prevent an elector from voting.
"In this case — a case of a sentencing without precedent and where there are arguable grounds of appeal — Mr. Sona ought to have an opportunity to have this court consider the fitness of his sentence before he is required to serve it," LaForme wrote.
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