Ex-bureaucrat/robber freed with ‘reprimand’

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This article was published 18/07/2009 (6144 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — A notorious former city bureaucrat turned bank robber is back on the streets after federal prison officials agreed to give him another shot at parole following a pattern of questionable behaviour.

Timothy Collins, formerly known as Klaus Burlakow, walked out of Stony Mountain penitentiary this week with an official "reprimand" on his record and a stern warning that he is being watched closely.

Officials are especially concerned with a series of personal and professional relationships in which Collins got involved following his last release.

"It does appear that your behaviour was deteriorating and that the Correctional Services of Canada intervened before you were involved in your crime cycle," the National Parole Board wrote in a decision obtained Friday by the Free Press.

Collins, 55, was arrested in May after a series of court decisions left him on the hook for more than $12,000.

He lost three civil cases after failing to show up in court and being found in default. He was having his wages garnisheed while employed as a fundraising manager and consultant for the Mennonite Central Committee of Manitoba. He left that job in April.

A Kentucky woman also claims Collins made contact with her online, proposed marriage and suggested they buy a house together in Atlanta. With a criminal record and parole conditions, he was not allowed to travel across the border to the United States.

The 50-year-old woman said Collins flew her to Canada to meet him several times in Toronto, twice in Ottawa and once in Halifax.

The woman met Collins online in August 2007, she said. In subsequent telephone conversations, Collins spoke with an Irish accent — similar to what he did almost seven years ago when he contacted a Seattle woman online and later in person, at that time using the name Patrick.

Collins was not charged with any new crimes, but under National Parole Board rules, an offender’s release can be revoked if there is a pattern of behaviour not in keeping with the terms of his release.

"The board is disappointed in some of the decisions you have made… in the past year," the board wrote in this week’s decision.

Collins has assured officials he has made plans to pay off his debts. The parole board has ordered him to provide a full financial disclosure and attend psychological counselling to "ensure you are dealing with the stresses that face you in the community."

"Any such similar behaviour on your part in the future may be considered an increase of your risk and could again lead to suspension or revocation of parole," the board wrote.

He made headlines in February 2003 when he was caught following a high-speed police chase after a River Heights bank was robbed at gunpoint. He was sentenced to eight years in prison in February 2004 after pleading guilty to seven bank robberies.

www.mikeoncrime.com