Jailhouse scheme puts man back behind bars

PRINCE GEORGE — A Prince George man was found guilty this week of attempting to sell stolen firearms through accomplices while he was in custody at the Prince George Regional Correctional Centre.

The plan backfired in more ways than one for Jamie Hal Hammerstrom. Although he was eventually acquitted on the charges that first put him in custody, he now faces sentencing on 22 convictions as a result of the failed scheme to raise money for bail.

Hammerstrom, 37, was arrested on Dec. 23, 2011 on suspicion of fleeing police in a stolen pickup truck earlier the same day, but a year later was found not guilty after prosecutors were unable to prove the driver’s identity beyond a reasonable doubt.

However, shortly after Hammerstrom’s arrest on those charges, police received a tip that he ordered his two housemates to sell his guns to raise bail money. In early January, police executed a search warrant and seized five rifles and two shotguns from the home. They also obtained recordings of phone conversations involving Hammerstrom while he was in jail.

Over the course of a five- week trial, B. C. Supreme Court Justice Brenda Brown heard 14 recordings and on Thursday concluded references made by those involved to “wooden things,” “shorts,” “long things,” “long pants” and “toys” were code words for the guns.

Hammerstrom was found guilty of seven counts of illegally possessing a weapon for transfer, seven counts of possessing a weapon obtained through crime, and eight counts of knowingly possessing a firearm without a licence.