Millard’s gun seller sentenced to 11 years
After credit, Toronto man has three years, seven months left to serve
A judge has sentenced Matthew Ward-Jackson, the man who sold guns to Dellen Millard, to 11 years in prison, saying he falls into the category of “one of the worst firearms offenders.”
The 30-year-old Toronto man pleaded guilty last year to trafficking three separate firearms to Millard in 2012 as well as possessing an AK 47 automatic rifle.
Superior Court Justice Jane Kelly gave Ward-Jackson six years, 15 days credit for pretrial custody plus a one year, four month reduction for his “harsh experience” in the Toronto South Detention Centre, including 488 days of lockdown.
This leaves Ward-Jackson with another three years, seven months and two weeks left to serve.
Prosecutors were asking that he receive a 13-year sentence while defence argued an appropriate sentence would be about sevenand-a-half years. Kelly said she found several aggravating factors when reaching her decision, including Ward-Jackson’s 2009 conviction for possessing a firearm, for which he received a 3.5-year sentence.
“Such a sentence did not deter him from committing these similar and serious offences,” she wrote in her ruling. At the time of committing the offences, he was under two court orders not to possess weapons.
Another aggravating factor is the fact Ward-Jackson sold Millard a Walther PPK 9 mm handgun that was used to murder Tim Bosma on May 6, 2013. Millard and his friend Mark Smich were found guilty of killing the Ancaster man in 2016. He also sold Millard a .32 calibre Smith & Wesson revolver which was found next to Wayne Millard, who died Nov. 29, 2012 from a single gunshot wound to his left eye. The death was initially ruled a suicide, but Millard is now charged with the first-degree murder of his father.
As a mitigating factor, WardJackson has demonstrated remorse by pleading guilty, saving about seven weeks of court time, Kelly said Friday when she released her decision. She also cited the fact he has been locked up for more than four years, not committed any misconduct, participated in various programs and expressed an interest in being a role model for his six-year-old son.
As well, he sold Millard a .380 “Bodyguard” handgun, a transaction, arranged via text message, as were the others.
In December, the pair was also convicted of killing Laura Babcock. A judge still must decide whether to impose a consecutive parole ineligibility period of 25 years in prison.