A Sydney man who was a community college student of the year has been sentenced to 2 and a half years in a federal prison on a charge of break and enter.
28-year-old David Leslie Manning was also ordered to submit a DNA sample to the national registry and is banned from possessing weapons for 10 years.
Manning won this year’s student of the year award at the Marconi Campus of the Nova Scotia Community College.
Several of his instructors filed support letters with the court.
Manning was one of three people charged in connection with a home invasion in April of 2016. The other accused were previously sentenced to federal terms ranging from three to eight years. Manning was facing additional charges but they were dismissed in exchange for the guilty plea.
Defence lawyer Tony Mozvik told the court his client has no problems with drugs or alcohol and until Friday, had no criminal record.
He noted his client was on strict release conditions since his arrest in 2016 and did not record any breach of the conditions.