The former Summerside town councilor who pleaded guilty to stealing thousands of dollars from a veterans group stood in a PEI provincial courtroom on Tuesday and apologized to a judge and about a dozen of victims and their supporters.

“Your Honor, I am truly sorry,” said Barb Gallant, her voice trembling. “Veterans, community and … I’m so sorry.”

During Gallant’s sentencing hearing in Summerside, the public heard for the first time why she felt compelled to make 58 fraudulent transactions totaling $12,995 in her role as executive director of the Committee for Veterans Lest We Forget.

Gallant is a “kind and caring” person who was caught in an online dating scam, her lawyer, Peter Ghiz, said. He said the 60-year-old woman met someone she believed to be a retired US Navy captain who said he was stationed in Syria.

Caught in a romantic scam

She soon started sending him money – over a period of 16 months – before realizing she was being scammed.

But Crown prosecutor Chad McQuaid disputed that notion, noting that 18 of the fraudulent transactions took place before she began working with the person overseas.

The Crown recommended Gallant serve four to six months in prison and three years on probation. Her defense wants her to serve a suspended sentence at home. Ghiz noted that Gallant provides care for her elderly mother.

Gallant paid back about $2,000. The Crown requested that the remaining $11,000 be repaid in restitution.

Provincial Court Judge Krista MacKay will sentence Gallant on Dec. 16.

A group of veteranswho have been following the case since Gallant was arrested and charged in April, have been open about how the theft has affected them. On Tuesday, veteran Marle Gaudet read from a victim impact statement.

“We felt betrayed”

“We identified how we felt betrayed, angry, how hurt we are and what we need to move our healing forward,” Gaudet said.

“We were told it wasn’t money, only to find out later it wasn’t just money, but she accessed it for her own personal needs. That devastated us.”

Nancy Beth Guptill, the former chairwoman of the veterans committee who first noticed the suspicious transactions, said she was at least grateful that Gallant admitted what he did.

“This is the first time we’ve received an apology and it seemed genuine,” she said.

“The organization itself has lost a little bit of face, but we think if we hold it accountable and go through this process and stand with the veterans, I think they see that we’re very sincere in wanting to see restoration happen.”