Crown seeks two years on weapons charges

Committing firearms offences after engaging in a dangerous Beltline shootout, in which a judge found he was acting in self-defence, should land a Calgary man a sentence of up to 24 months.

But the lawyer for Yeamet Obong said Monday her client has already spent enough time behind bars on three weapons charges, including possessing a firearm while prohibited.

Defence counsel Alias Sanders said the circumstances which Justice Nancy Dilts found led to Obong possessing a loaded handgun mitigated what might be a more harsh sentence.

Sanders said the equivalent to nearly 4 1/2-months Obong, 23, has spent in remand should be punishment enough.

Crown prosecutor Heather Morris said a sentence in the 18to 24-month range was warranted considering Obong's criminal past and the dangerous situation he created by turning the handgun over to a friend instead of to the authorities.

Dilts found Obong came into possession of the gun when a drug dealer he was making a purchase from him attempted to rob him and he wrestled the weapon away.

In acquitting Obong of a more serious allegation of discharging a firearm with intent to wound, the Court of King 's Bench judge found Obong was acting in self defence during an ensuing shootout with a man known only as Mr. X.

After Mr. X fired a shot at Obong in a Beltline parking lot in the middle of the afternoon on Feb. 29, 2020, the city man fired four rounds in return.

Dilts found Obong guilty of four firearms offences (one of which was stayed because it overlapped with another offence), after he fled the scene with the handgun and turned it over to a friend.

Morris said Obong's decision not to take the handgun to police has created a potential ongoing dangerous situation in the community.

“He ... gave it to a friend to be disposed of, or who knows,” she said.

“That gun is still out there somewhere and he basically doesn't know what happened to it. That is a very aggravating factor.”

But Sanders said the circumstances which led Obong to be in possession of the gun during a “pretty frightening experience,” lessened the severity of his crimes.

Before Dilts adjourned her sentencing decision to Oct. 13, Obong addressed the court.

“I made really bad judgment calls taking a gun to my friend's house,” he said. “I just panicked.”

He remains in custody pending Dilts's decision.