A man sentenced to seven years for a string of crimes – including attempted robbery and assault with a weapon – has lost his appeal.

In July 2016, Shannon Stein, 43, was sentenced in Yukon Supreme Court for attempted robbery, being unlawfully in a dwelling, and two counts of assault with bear spray.

He also pled guilty to several counts of theft and possession of property obtained by crime.

On appeal, lawyer Vincent Larochelle had argued that the sentence was inappropriately harsh.

“The sentence he composed is completely out of range for what similar offenders in the Yukon receive,” he said of Justice Donald Luther’s 2016 decision.

He noted that Stein’s co-accused, Janine Firth, was sentenced to only three years for charges of attempted robbery, assault with a weapon, forcible confinement and unlawfully being in a dwelling.

Larochelle also argued that the sentence failed to take rehabilitation into account. And that the offences were part of a crime spree and therefore the sentences should be served concurrently rather than consecutively.

Finally, he argued that while Luther found during trial that Firth had an influential role in the offences, he failed to take this finding into consideration during sentencing.

But the Yukon Court of Appeal recently found that Luther made no error in his sentencing decision.

“In my view, the sentences imposed here fall well within the appropriate range given Mr. Stein’s personal circumstances and the particulars of the offences,” wrote Chief Justice Bauman.

“The judge considered the principle of totality and it was within his discretion to order that some of the individual sentences be served consecutively,” the appeal decision added.

It also noted that parity between sentences does not require them to be equal but rationally explainable when compared.

As well, the appeal court found that the judge’s comments about Firth’s influence on the crimes were not a clear finding.

Luther had said Stein was “in large measure, a party to the offence and may, indeed have been unduly persuaded and influenced by Ms. Firth but, nonetheless, he was there and he was part of all of this.”

Stein was charged after a string of crimes were committed in Whitehorse during a two-week period in October 2015.

The court heard that at the time, Stein was in a downward spiral of drug abuse with Firth after one year of sobriety, and was committing crimes to fuel his addiction.

On Oct. 14, 2015, Stein pretended to be an employee at a gas station to get a customer’s credit card and used it to purchase $1,800 worth of lottery tickets and cigarettes.

On Oct. 20, in the most serious incident. Firth and Stein attempted to rob Donald Lajoie at his room at the Stratford Motel on Fourth Avenue.

Firth, who is eight years younger than Stein, had told him she previously bought drugs from Lajoie.

When they arrived at the hotel room, Stein informed Lajoie they were going to rob him.

Lajoie grabbed Firth and a scuffle ensued among the trio.

Lajoie’s friend and neighbour intervened, and Firth sprayed both of them with bear spray.

Two days after the botched robbery, Stein and Firth smashed the window of a car in the local Walmart store parking lot.

They stole a woman’s purse which contained credit cards and $500 US and $140 CAD in cash.

The pair were caught on video attempting to withdraw $200 from an ATM using the credit card.

On Oct. 28, Stein stole a Samsung Galaxy Tablet worth $350 from the Whitehorse General Hospital.

And the following day, he conned two men into giving him $120 with the promise of discount cigarettes.

Stein admitted to many of the incidents but took the case to trial to contest the nature of his role in the robbery.

Firth pled guilty to several charges early on and, with the Crown, submitted a joint submission to the court.

During sentencing, Luther noted that the maximum sentence for Stein’s offences was 38 years’ imprisonment.

He also noted Stein’s lengthy criminal record and found weak prospects for rehabilitation.

Luther rejected the argument that Firth and Stein should receive similar sentences, as he said Firth’s sentence was the result of the joint submission.