*This story has graphic details that might be disturbing to some readers.*
A man has been jailed for seven years for his part in a brutal Richmond home invasion, confinement and armed robbery of a mother and son.
Cody Ray Lesko pleaded guilty to three offences committed during a horrifying, gunpoint attack which a judge labelled “targeted, planned and brutal.”
Prior to being sentenced, Lesko admitted to breaking and entering and committing a robbery, to one count of unlawful confinement and using an imitation firearm in relation to a robbery.
He carried out the home invasion in March of 2020 along with two unidentified men, who remain at large.
“They put a mother and son through a living nightmare that shattered them and their sense of personal security, possibly forever,” B.C. Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice H. Holmes said in his reasons for sentencing.
Both the mother and son suffered “massive emotional and psychological damage that stays with them still,” the judge added.
Court documents tell how a Richmond woman came home just after 7 p.m. and was confronted by three men wearing dark clothing, masks and gloves. The men seemed to know details about the family and their business. She was attacked and forced to the ground by the first unidentified man.
After hearing the disturbance, the women’s son, aged 20, came to the room and found his mother bloodied and on the floor.
According to the judge’s statement, the mother and son were “brutalized and threatened at gunpoint,” mainly by the first unidentified man, but the second unidentified man and Lesko were also “actively involved.”
The judge noted the mother and son didn’t know the intruders but they seemed to know details about the family.
The mother’s and son’s hands were tied tightly with zap straps and both were struck, the mother repeatedly. The first man was most aggressive, according to the judge, hitting her around the head and face and calling her both misogynistic and racial slurs.
At times, the pair were enclosed in a storage space under the stairs, and taken to different areas around the house.
The three men were demanding where they kept their money and threatened to kill them if they didn’t tell them.
The mother and son said they didn’t have much money at home, rather they did at their place of business.
The first man fired his gun close to the mother’s head and sexually assaulted her in front of her son in a “highly invasive and denigrating manner.”
The three men also ransacked the house, of which Lesko had a “large role in doing so,” the judge noted.
They stole about USD $1,000 and $200-$300 Canadian as well as jewelry.
The three men then drove to the family’s business with the mother and son. While the two unidentified men went into the business, Lesko stayed in the car and threatened to shoot them if they “messed around.”
The judge noted Lesko’s gun was an imitation gun.
The woman’s husband had, in the meantime, come home and seen the blood and damage at the home and received an alarm from the business premises.
When he then arrived at the place of business, the second unidentified man called him by name.
But, at this point, the mother and son were able to escape from the car and run to the husband’s car.
The three men then fled in the family’s car, but it was found abandoned a short distance away.
Lesko was arrested near the victims' home later that night when he came back to get his own car, parked nearby.
The mother was in the hospital for two days with her injuries, which included a broken nose, a fractured sternum, broken ribs and extensive soft tissue injuries to her arms and legs.
The mother said, two years later, she still thinks about the events every day and can’t stop crying, constantly fearful of intruders, and fearful of leaving the home. She also has chronic insomnia.
She also suffered financially because she had to close her business for three months.
The son said the day of the events was the worst day of his life, and his home is no longer a safe haven. He has panic attacks and nightmares, fearing for his life and his mother’s life. He’s also wary of strangers.
In his sentencing, the judge took into account Lesko’s Metis background. He was 24 at the time of the offences.
Lesko struggled in school but wasn’t diagnosed with any symptoms or learning disabilities. Drugs and alcohol aren’t factors in his life.
Lesko worked at a sawmill in Langley for about five years, and has been working for a flooring company more recently.
While he had positive friends, and a generally positive attitude about his upbringing, Lesko had a friend who wasn’t a good influence, who introduced him to the two unidentified men.
The judge noted Lesko’s upbringing was possibly “somewhat more difficult for him than he wished the Court to consider.” The family wasn’t financially “strong” and family members with “personal challenges” might have had an indirect effect on him.
Reference letters state he has many positive characteristics and is extremely loyal and supportive of his family. He is seen as “responsible, hard-working, respectful of others, helpful, and able,” the judge noted. They don’t think he’ll pose a risk to the community.
Lesko expressed “profound remorse” for his offences, the judge noted.
In his sentencing, the judge took into account several mitigating factors including the fact Lesko pleaded guilty, had no prior criminal record, had support from family, felt deep remorse and regret and had Metis heritage. Furthermore, the judge noted Lesko didn’t appear to be a “leader” in the home invasion.
“Nonetheless, Mr. Lesko clearly played a significant part in the events, inflicting and threatening some violence himself, and maintaining sole control at gunpoint over (the mother and son) while Males 1 and 2 tried to enter the business premises,” Holmes said in his sentencing report.
Holmes said the sentence needs to make clear that “society cannot tolerate calculated and brutal conduct of this type,” and the sentence needs to be “heavy enough to send a deterrent message, as well as denounce the conduct.”
Lesko was sentenced to six years in jail for the home invasion and six years for the unlawful confinement, to be served concurrently. He was also sentenced to one year for using an imitation firearm, to be served consecutively.
