Man who sold gun to undercover cops gets 3 ½ years in jail
A man who sold a gun and 40 rounds of ammunition to undercover cops was sentenced Tuesday in Newfoundland Supreme Court to 3 ½ years in jail.
Christopher Shaw pleaded guilty in May to charges of trafficking in a restricted weapon, not having a licence for the weapon, improper storage of the gun and a breach of a previous court order banning him from having firearms.
Shaw and 38-year-old Jason Earl Marsh were originally charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, assault and other charges for two shootings in St. John’s in the fall of 2013. In one, a man on Boyle Street was shot in the chest; in the other, a man was shot three times at a home in Williams Heights.
Midway through their trial, Shaw and Marsh pleaded guilty to a number of the lesser charges. Marsh pleaded guilty to 12 counts, including aggravated assault, possessing a prohibited weapon and discharging a firearm with the intent to harm in connection with the shootings, and the Crown is expected to withdraw the attempted murder charge. Marsh has said he acted alone.
To gain information about the shootings, police organized an undercover operation with two officers from Ontario in December 2013. One of them was placed in the St. John’s Lockup with Marsh, who had been picked up for an unrelated court breach. Both behind bars and outside, Marsh gave the officer information about the shootings and provided him with Shaw’s phone number. The officers asked Shaw to get them a gun, and he did: a .347 magnum and 40 rounds of ammunition.
Defence lawyers had applied to have Shaw and Marsh’s statements to the undercover officers during the sting thrown out, but Justice William Goodridge denied the application.
On Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Lisa Stead asked for a six-year jail term for Shaw, while defence lawyer Kevin Baker suggested three years in custody — the minimum possible for the charges — would be more appropriate.
After a short period of deliberation, Goodridge accepted the defence’s position and sentenced Shaw to 3 ½ years, with the extra six months for the court order breach. Goodridge gave Shaw credit for the 216 days he has been in custody at the standard 1.5 rate, meaning he has 324 days left to serve. All Shaw’s charges related to the shootings were dropped.
Marsh’s sentencing hearing will take place Oct. 30.