Canadian escapes jail time on gun smuggling charges - May. 14, 2010
BY KATHY BOCKUS
kathy@stcroixcourier.ca
ST. STEPHEN – Canadians who try to bring guns across the border face the prospect of large fines or jail time.
That’s the joint message from the Canada Border Services Agency, the federal Crown prosecutor and a New Brunswick Provincial Court Judge in the wake of a case Thursday involving a Nova Scotia man charged with smuggling a restricted handgun and a prohibited shotgun into the country.
Age and the fact he had no criminal record are the only things the judge said kept 66-year-old Hugh Alexander Landry of Antigonish from going to jail Thursday.
“You’re Canadian. Anyone who reads or listens to the radio knows the deal,” said Provincial Court Judge Anne Jeffries.
She fined Landry a total of $8,000; $3,000 for failing to declare the importation of a restricted 38-calibre revolver and a prohibited .410-calibre shotgun, and another $3,000 on a charge of smuggling prohibited, controlled or regulated goods into the country.
Landry was also fined $2,000 for possession of restricted firearms without a licence. He pleaded guilty to all charges and is prohibited from owning firearms for three years, and was ordered to forfeit the two firearms seized by customs officers.
“I made a big mistake, a bunch of them,” said Landry as the judge nodded her agreement, “None of which will ever happen again.”
Crown prosecutor Peter Thorn requested a short jail sentence to send a message to the public that smuggling guns into Canada by Canadians won’t be tolerated.
Thorn told the judge the issue of smuggling weapons into Canada was a significant problem in St. Stephen and that people charged with the offence were usually Americans vacationing in Canada.
“But here you have a Canadian who admitted he lied and carries around weapons that aren’t registered,” said Thorn.
Landry crossed the border from the U.S. into Canada mid-morning on Wednesday, May 12. He was driving a 2008 Ford F350 and towing a 2007 fifth wheel trailer. When asked what items he had to declare, Landry, who had been living in the trailer in the United States since November, told border officials he had purchased some cigarettes.
He was sent for a secondary inspection where an officer discovered the holstered revolver and some ammunition under a set of steps in the trailer. Officers continued a search of his vehicles and discovered a shotgun in a bedroom closet along with a package of firecrackers.
Duty counsel Joel Hansen told the court Landry lives in his trailer.
“The weapons were not in his truck, they were in his home,” argued Hansen. He said Landry has the weapons, as many Americans do, for his protection.
Jeffries said nine out of 10 Americans charged under the Customs Act aren’t aware of Canadian laws, which doesn’t make them any less culpable.
“But he’s Canadian,” said the judge, adding that Landry knew his weapons had to be registered and properly stored.
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