A former advocate for housing in St. John’s is heading back to prison due to her latest in a series of criminal convictions. Michelle Voisey has been sentenced to 10 months in jail with 24 months of probation for diverting $8,000 in Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) payments from her niece’s Canada Revenue Agency account into her own bank account. The CERB program was designed to aid individuals who lost their jobs during the pandemic.
During Voisey’s sentencing at the Supreme Court in St. John’s on September 11, Justice Peter Browne highlighted the severity of the offense, emphasizing the deliberate nature of the act, breach of trust, impact on the victim, and Voisey’s extensive history of similar offenses. Browne ordered Voisey to repay the $8,000 to the CRA and prohibited her from holding any position where she would have control over others’ assets or money for 20 years.
Voisey, who pleaded guilty in June 2025, has nearly 160 prior convictions, many of which involve fraud, forgery, or theft. The sentencing was delayed until 2026 due to a last-minute request for a legal aid lawyer. Despite a letter from Voisey’s family doctor stating she has ovarian cancer, Browne declined to consider it without expert testimony.
Voisey’s legal representative, Dan Furey, did not pursue the application in court, leading to the sentencing proceeding as planned. Voisey attempted to request a delay in her sentence, which Browne denied. It is unclear if Voisey plans to appeal her sentence.