Igor Kenk pleads guilty to bike theft in settlement

A bike store owner accused of stealing hundreds of bicycles in Toronto has admitted to several counts of theft and drug possession as part of a plea deal.

Igor Kenk pleaded guilty in provincial court on Tuesday to 10 charges related to the theft of bicycles, five counts of possession of cocaine and one count of possession of marijuana.

Kenk, 50, was sentenced to 30 months in jail, but he received two days' credit for each day he has already spent in custody.

Taking into account the 13 months he spent in pre-trail custody, he faces four months in jail.

"It sends the signal that you can perpetrate a massive crime, and you will get a slap on the wrist," said Mike Brcic, who said his wife's bicycle was among those stolen by Kenk.

"It's not an appropriate punishment."

Although Kenk was out on bail last year on the theft and drug possession charges, he found himself back in custody last December after being charged with threatening two people with a metal pipe.

He is due to appear in court Friday to face trial on three assault charges stemming from that incident.

Scores of charges dropped

Kenk, the owner of the Bicycle Clinic at 927 Queen Street West, was arrested July 16, 2008.

Police found more than 3,000 bicycles stored at Kenk's home, business and a number of garages he rented.

They also found about seven kilograms of marijuana in two of those garages.

He was originally charged with 58 counts of theft and 22 counts of possession and trafficking of drugs. As part of the deal, the scores of remaining charges against him were dropped.

"He was in possession of 10 bicycles that he ought to have known were hot, and that's it," Kenk's lawyer, Lon Rose, said on Tuesday.

The Crown said the deal was appropriate, because a trial would have been too long and complicated.

"It's a representative sample of the bicycles," said prosecutor Ruth Kleinhenz. "Obviously, proving the theft of 3,000 bicycles would be quite a feat."

His wife, classical pianist Jeanie Chung, also faced several drug charges, all of which have now been dropped.