Five break and enters to five local businesses equal two years in a penitentiary for one man.

The sentence was handed down to Calvin Pavey, 28, in territorial court Friday afternoon by visiting deputy Judge Jack McGivern.

Both Crown prosecutor Noel Sinclair and defence lawyer Gordon Coffin agreed to the sentence, with Sinclair bringing it forward as a joint submission.

Pavey also received a sentence of time served for two separate charges of driving while disqualified and escaping custody.

Pavey pleaded guilty to all the charges.

The court heard that last Dec. 4, local RCMP arrested Pavey for five break and enters to local businesses. They included the Real Canadian Superstore gas bar, Quizno's, Coyote Video and Yukon Explosives.

The first happened at the Superstore, where police were called last Nov. 30 after an alarm went off at the gas bar.

Police were contacted by the alarm company. When they went to the store, they found the front door had been smashed along with the door going into a back office.

A total of $329 was stolen, with the damage to the glass totalling more than $700.

Then, last Dec. 2, RCMP were called to the Quizno's sub shop by the owner. Again, a thief had gained entry by smashing glass to get inside, where the till was disconnected and removed.

'There was no cash in the till,' Sinclair said.

Pavey later admitted he took the till behind the Superstore and broke it open only to find some gift certificates and some other documents.

The replacement value of the till was more than $5,000, Sinclair noted.

Two days after the Quizno's break-in, at 3:12 a.m. last Dec. 4, a Super Valu employee reported a break and enter at the grocery store. There, a window had also been smashed and entry gained.

From there, Pavey went to the front office where two locked doors were open. The incident was caught on video surveillance tape, Sinclair said.

It was just a little more than three hours later, at 6:33 a.m., when a security company contacted the RCMP about an alarm going off at Coyote Video in Porter Creek.

The store's owner met police at the shop in the Porter Creek Centre on Wann Road to find a window had been smashed to get in. From the front counter, a cash tray and wallet were taken. Again, video surveillance caught the incident on tape.

At 7:58 a.m., police were called to a break and enter at Yukon Explosives, where a window had again been smashed.

A total of $632.75 was taken from a cash drawer. The footwear impression left in the store matched those left at both the Coyote Video and Quizno's break-ins.

At 11:18 a.m. the same day, an RCMP officer was leaving the Whitehorse detachment on Fourth Avenue and noticed a man matching the description from the Coyote Video store surveillance tape, including wearing the same boots and grey jacket. The man turned out to be Pavey.

As he was being arrested, Pavey admitted he had some needles on him and was co-operative with police, it was noted. A hammer and the wallet were recovered when the RCMP searched him.

While heading back to the detachment, Pavey admitted to the break-ins.

When asked if the hammer had been used to break the glass at the businesses, Pavey admitted it had, Sinclair told the court.

As he was being taken to cells, Pavey told police he was sorry and that he was 'a wreck'. Sinclair noted that Pavey was known by the officers involved to be a cocaine addict.

Just a few months earlier, Pavey had been charged with driving while prohibited when he was pulled over by police. Pavey had been banned from driving for a year after having been convicted of impaired driving in October 2005.

Then, last Nov. 24, police were called to an accident where a small pickup truck had hit two parked vehicles at Sixth Avenue and Hanson Street. Pavey was identified as the driver and arrested, Sinclair said

On Jan. 3 at 9:45 a.m., Pavey was in custody and had been escorted to the courtroom by the RCMP.

There, he essentially bolted, running behind his lawyer and throwing a chair in the way of the officer coming after him. He then ran out of the courthouse and down the street with no shoes on.

As police continued working to find him, an officer went to an apartment where they thought Pavey might show up.

There, Pavey stood in a living room his socks and the bottom of his pants wet. He gave a false name to the officer, who didn't know him, appearing somewhat shaky during the encounter, Sinclair said.

It was after another officer arrived with a picture of Pavey that it became evident who he was.

Sinclair brought forward the 28-year-old's record showing numerous property offences, among them a 2002 robbery and 1994 break, enter and theft. There have also been offences around breaching court orders including a 2004 breach of a conditional sentence among others.

With the record, Sinclair argued Pavey is at the top range for sentencing. Pointing to deterrence, denunciation and public safety factors, the Crown prosecutor suggested Pavey should be sent to a federal penitentiary for 2 1/2 years.

With a 1.5-to-one credit for his time in pre-sentence custody, Sinclair noted that would leave Pavey serving a two-year sentence.

Any sentence of two years or longer is served in federal custody.

'The losses are staggering,' Sinclair said of the break and enters.

While Pavey ended up stealing a total of $961 from the businesses he broke into, there was more than $1,575 in damages to the windows.

From the pre-sentence report, Sinclair said, Pavey clearly has succumbed to his cocaine addition.

'He's considered a high risk to reoffend,' the Crown prosecutor noted, adding that at the end of the day, there's no option but to have the sentence served in a penitentiary.

While Coffin filed a letter of reference from an employer willing to hire Pavey, the lawyer noted it was obtained at a time when Pavey was hoping for a conditional sentence, which is served in the community.

He noted Pavey recognizes he will not be getting a conditional sentence.

The federal system will provide better treatment for Pavey to deal with his cocaine addiction, Coffin noted, describing programming at the 40-year-old Whitehorse Correctional Centre as 'modest at best.'

Pavey's best hope is to get out of the area where he can get treatment, Coffin said.

McGivern agreed to the sentence, imposing two years for the break and enters and time served for the driving and escaping offences.

A DNA order was also put in place and the victim surcharges waived.

The Crown directed a stay on further charges against Pavey.