2019 trial date set in weapons case

Two Cardston businessmen charged last year with several weapons-related offences will stand trial, but not until late next year.

Dean Dan Sommerfeldt, 59, and Todd Dean Sommerfeldt, 32, were arraigned Monday in Lethbridge Court of Queen’s Bench where their four-week trial was set to run Sept. 9 to Oct. 4, 2019.

The men, who have elected to be tried by a Court of Queen’s Bench judge without a jury, were committed to stand trial following a preliminary hearing last month in provincial court. Both accused will be tried on charges of weapons trafficking, transfer of a weapon and/or ammunition without authority, careless storage of a restricted weapon, and unauthorized possession of a weapon. Dean also faces an additional charge of possession of a weapon for the purpose of trafficking. ALERT Lethbridge Organized Crime and Gang Team and the RCMP National Weapons Enforcement Support Team conducted a five-month investigation into K&D Implements in Cardston, and on May 29, 2017 they searched the business with help from Cardston RCMP and Lethbridge police.

The entire store’s inventory at the time of 1,000 guns and one million rounds of ammunition was seized, police reported. The seizure included 49 handguns, 972 long guns, 270 kilograms of gun powder, 446 kilograms of Tannerite, a binary explosive material, and 12,000 firearm primers. The estimated value of the seized items is between $1.2 and $1.4 million.

The investigation began after police received a number of complaints from the public. ALERT reported a business was selling firearms and ammunition illegally and failed to ensure that firearms purchasers provided valid possession acquisition licences.