A 37-year-old man has been sentenced to nine years in prison for a series of robberies at banks, liquor stores and gas stations, including one in Burnaby.

Clint Aaron Jeremy Billy pleaded guilty in November 2022 to nine counts of robbery, three counts of using an imitation firearm during an offense, one count of possession of an imitation handgun and one count of violating a release order, all between December 2019 and March 2022., according to a ruling from a British Columbia provincial court last month.

He was sentenced in North Vancouver provincial court on October 25.

Flights to Burnaby

Burnaby’s charge related to a bank robbery that occurred on Jan. 27, 2021, according to the decision.

Billy walked into a local TD Canada Trust, masked with a bandana and wearing sunglasses and a hat.

He approached a teller saying he wanted to open an account, but then pulled out a handgun, pointed it at the teller and demanded $10,000.

When he was given a $200 packet of dye, he refused it and said he wanted $10,000 or he would start shooting.

He then received $400 and fled in a taxi – where he left his fingerprints and was filmed by a surveillance camera, according to the ruling.

Billy was also charged with two other robberies in Burnaby, but those charges were stayed as part of a plea deal.

On January 26, 2021, he received $400 in cash (with a GPS tracker attached) after entering another TD Canada Trust bank in Burnaby masked with a bandana, hat and sunglasses and demanding $10,000.

Less than five hours later, he then walked into a local 7-Eleven, once again masked with a bandana and sunglasses.

“He had his hand in his pocket, holding it in the shape of a firearm,” the judgment states. “He said, ‘Do you want me to shoot your colleague in the head?’ The salesman didn’t give him anything and he left the store.”

9 year sentence

In total, Billy was accused of robbing seven Lower Mainland banks, four liquor stores, three gas stations and a Subway restaurant.

A female employee, robbed by two men at gunpoint in one of the liquor stores, told the court she was traumatized, had to take five months off work and she needed in-depth counseling to deal with her fear and anxiety.

Crown prosecutor Ariana Ward had argued for a prison term of between nine and a half and 10 years, while Billy’s lawyer Angela Barna said the sentence should be between seven and eight years.

British Columbia Provincial Court Judge Joanne Challenger sentenced Billy to nine years in prison less nearly seven years of credit for time he has already served.

She also imposed a lifetime ban on possessing firearms and ordered him to provide a sample of his DNA.

“Predatory, planned and deliberate”

Challenger noted that Billy had an extensive criminal record, including 11 prior robbery convictions, and was on probation when he committed some of the new thefts.

Billy’s offenses were also “inherently violent and serious” and his victims were vulnerable because of their work, Challenger said.

As mitigating factors, she pointed to Billy’s guilty pleas and his Indigenous background, which included childhood trauma and instability linked to the impacts of colonialism, residential schools and systemic racism.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 1999 that courts must consider the history of the Indigenous offender when determining sentencing.

Although Challenger acknowledged that Billy had been “profoundly negatively affected” by historical trauma, she said those factors were only “indirectly or incidentally” related to his crimes.

She stressed that Billy did not have a mental disability and was not a drug addict or addict when he committed his offences.

Instead, she described his crimes as “predatory, planned and deliberate.”

“He was motivated by greed,” Challenger said. “He wanted easy money and was willing to get it through violence.”

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