This little ditty comes from an article in the Edmonton, Alberta, Sun, in an article by Tony Blais of their Court Bureau.

A drug-addicted Workers' Compensation Board case manager who embezzled $1.25 million avoided prison Thursday because nature has already imprisoned him.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Brian Burrows said it would have been appropriate to sentence Murray Cremer, 48, to five years in a penitentiary for the massive fraud, but ruled it was a case of "exceptional circumstances."

Court heard Cremer – who stole the money to fuel his heroin addiction – has no friends and lives a "hollow” life", spending his days at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, a Tim Hortons near his home and chatting with his parents.

He is also unable to work due to physical and mental disabilities he incurred after suffering two strokes which doctors say likely stemmed from accidental overdoses.

"It makes this an exceptional case," said Burrows, adding Cremer is not now "the person who committed the crime."

The judge agreed that nature has already imprisoned Cremer and he is deserving of compassion and ruled it would be “an extreme punishment” to put him in prison.

Burrows gave Cremer a two-year conditional sentence to be served in the community and ordered him to continue his psychiatric treatment and attendance at AA meetings.

Cremer was also ordered to perform one hour of community service each week and repay WCB the stolen money.

Court has heard Cremer fraudulently revived two closed files where he had been the initial case manager and had unauthorized cheques issued to the two former claimants.

One of the claimants was Cremer's brother Robert, who died of a heroin overdose in 2005, and the other was his first drug dealer, Darryl Tiffin, who died in 1998 when he was decapitated in a single-vehicle collision.

According to agreed facts, Cremer defrauded the money between 1996 and 2000, when he suffered a serious stroke.

The fraud was discovered during a 2003 audit which revealed Cremer was able to pull off the scam due to his knowledge of the WCB system for payments to claimants.

On one of the bogus files, Cremer was issuing cheques paying out between $5,000 to $10,000 per week.

In one of those weeks, a $3,730 cheque was issued for room and board, a $2,683 cheque was issued for mileage and a $3,145 cheque was issued for bus fare.

To justify such payments, a claimant would have had to drive nearly 10,000 kilometres, take a Greyhound bus to Winnipeg more than 20 times and be staying somewhere overnight for more than 35 days, all in a one-week period.