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A former professional bodybuilder and Olympic powerlifter has been sentenced to jail for choking a girlfriend until she feared she would die, then harassing her relentlessly online for a period of nine months when she tried to end the relationship.
Amit Sapir, 40, who most recently lived in Richmond, has been handed prison sentences of six months less a day for unlawful confinement and six months less a day for criminal harassment by Judge Patricia Janzen to be served consecutively.
But it’s unlikely Sapir will be serving that sentence anytime soon.
Days before a sentencing hearing in North Vancouver provincial court June 16, Sapir – who is a permanent resident of Canada but a citizen of Israel – skipped the country without telling anyone and didn’t show up for the hearing.
“I am advised he has never returned to Canada,” said Janzen, who concluded Sapir had “absconded” to avoid facing jail time. She sentenced him in absentia, which means if Sapir ever returns to Canada, he stands to be arrested and taken to jail.
In court Nov. 29, Janzen described how Sapir was charged with unlawful confinement after he choked a girlfriend in January 2018 in West Vancouver “to the point she almost lost consciousness and feared she would die.”
When the woman then decided to end the relationship, Sapir harassed her on several social media platforms over a period of nine months which included “deeply degrading cruel messages about her appearance” negative reviews of her business and “false and damaging allegations about her personal, professional and financial integrity,” said the judge.
It also included making a complaint to the woman’s governing professional college with the intent of coercing her to resume her relationship with Sapir.
Sapir also “engaged in personal correspondence that was so extensive and so unhinged that she feared for her safety,” said Janzen.
In a victim impact statement, the woman described living her life in a state of fear and hyper vigilance and her concern that Sapir would find a way to retaliate against her.
Janzen noted Sapir had been a professional bodybuilder, powerlifter and coach for 20 years “and has enjoyed significant success” including having corporate sponsors.
Sapir moved to Canada in 2009 to join his ex-wife, whom he had met online, said Janzen. They split in 2015. He then began seeing the girlfriend.
The judge noted Sapir was using a high dose of Adderall and has a history of performance-enhancing drug use, including growth hormone and anabolic steroids.
In handing down the sentence, the judge noted the “very large number of incidents” involved in the harassment, which continued after police warned Sapir to stop.
A pre-sentence report put Sapir at a high risk of re-offending with another intimate partner.
Should Sapir return to Canada, where his two children still live, he would be placed on three years’ probation following his jail time. Among the conditions, Sapir would have to inform a probation officer about anyone he was dating.
The judge noted that as a permanent resident, Sapir could still face immigration consequences for his convictions on the grounds of “criminality” – if he ever returned.
