ESTEVAN — A North Battleford man was sentenced to 26 months in custody for charges laid in southeast Saskatchewan earlier this summer.
Taylor Starchief, age 28, pleaded guilty Sept. 8 in Estevan Provincial Court to one count each of possession of a firearm knowing it was unauthorized, tampering with the serial number of a firearm and possession of a firearm contrary to an order. He also pleaded guilty to three charges of failing to comply with release conditions.
As per the terms of a joint submission, Starchief was sentenced to 20 months of jail for the unauthorized possession and tampering with the serial number charges, and he received six months, to be served consecutively, for possession of a firearm contrary to an order. Starchief received three one-day concurrent sentences for each of failure to comply charges.
Starchief’s sentence amounted to 780 days. He spent 56 days in custody prior to Sept. 8, and has 84 days of enhanced credit for being in remand, so he had 696 days remaining in custody from the day of the sentencing.
Several other charges were stayed, including careless use of a firearm, possession of an unauthorized firearm, possession of a firearm contrary to an order, and three counts of failing to comply with a release order.
Crown prosecutor Nik Battrum said the incident occurred July 15. A warrant was out for Starchief’s arrest and he was apprehended by Carnduff RCMP near the town. At the same time, Battrum said a search warrant was executed on Starchief’s hotel room in Carnduff, and a firearm with a magazine was found in his suitcase. A serial number was removed from the firearm.
Starchief also had a “very brief” criminal record, Battrum said. The sentence carried a number of aggravating factors, Battrum said, including that Starchief was out on conditions from North Battleford.
“The gun, of course, had a serial number filed off. The magazine found with it was over capacity.”
Firearms offences are treated seriously in Canada, Battrum said. There was no lawful reason for it to have a serial number filed off or for an over-capacity magazine to be stored improperly.
Starchief still has matters in North Battleford. His attorney Joelle Graham asked for them to be adjourned to that city to be spoken to on Sept. 25.
Once his sentence for the charges in the southeast is complete, Starchief will be released with conditions.
