Penticton man caught with loaded sawed-off shotgun gets three years in jail

PENTICTON – A Penticton man has been sentenced to three years in jail after RCMP found a loaded, sawed-off shotgun during a traffic stop in the city.

James Russell Fraser, 34, was sentenced on one count of possession of a loaded prohibited firearm and one count of possession of a prohibited firearm while prohibited in Penticton court yesterday, July 4.

The charges stem from a traffic stop on June 21, 2017, when, according to Crown Prosecutor Kurt Froehlich, a Penticton police officer observed a motorist driving a Ford pickup on Main Street with license plates that belonged to a passenger vehicle.

Police stopped the pickup on King Street, where the driver was identified as Fraser. He told police the truck wasn’t stolen, but he was driving with no insurance.

Fraser then told police there was a shotgun in the truck before bolting from the vehicle, only to be arrested by another officer on Government Street a short time later.

A search of the vehicle revealed a cloth-bound sawed-off shotgun wrapped in electrical tape, with a shell inside the chamber.

In presenting a joint submission for a sentence of three years to Judge Cathaline Heinrichs, Froehlich noted Fraser’s 32 previous convictions, including four robbery and assault convictions, adding the only reason for carrying a sawed-off shotgun was for criminal purposes. He also noted Fraser’s early guilty plea.

Defence lawyer Ben Lynskey told court his client suffered from addiction issues, and was high on methamphetamine and cocaine at the time of the incident. He told court Fraser was carrying the gun after becoming paranoid as a result of his meth use.

Lynskey said his client cooperated with police in identifying himself and declaring he had a gun, and had taken responsibility for his actions with an early guilty plea.

Justice Heinrichs agreed to the joint submission of three years in prison. With a credit for pre-sentence custody, Fraser has two years less a day to serve. He also faces a lifetime firearms prohibition.

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