2 accused in Coutts blockade plead guilty to lesser charges

Two of the four men charged with conspiracy to murder following the February 2022 Coutts border blockade have pleaded guilty to lesser charges, according to their lawyers and the Crown.

In a statement to Global News, the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (ACPS) said Chris Lysak and Jerry Morin entered guilty pleas in a Lethbridge court on Tuesday to firearms related charges.

On Feb. 15, 2022, Alberta RCMP said Lysak and Morin, along with Chris Carbert and Anthony Olienick, were charged with conspiracy to commit murder, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and mischief, in connection with the blockade near the village of Coutts, Alta., earlier that month. RCMP also said Lysak was charged with uttering threats.

In an email, Lysak’s counsel Daniel J. Song said Lysak maintains his innocence regarding all the charges.

Song said Lysak pleaded guilty to possessing a licensed and registered handgun in a place that was not authorized and said that at the conclusion of the sentencing, all the charges of the indictment were withdrawn.

“To be clear, Mr. Lysak did not admit to possessing his handgun for a dangerous purpose. He did not attend the Coutts protests with the intent to harm anyone,” Song, who was hired by Lysak in November 2023, said. “He admits that his firearm was loaded with ammunition at the time of police seizure, but denies having loaded and chambered the gun.”

An agreed statement of facts says Lysak, who is from Lethbridge, learned about the convoy and decided to head to Coutts.

“He packed a suitcase and took his Remington rifle model 700 and ammunition bag so he could hunt coyotes if he found himself idle and bored,” it says.

The court document says the RCMP started an investigation into the closure of the border and tried to identify the convoy leaders.

During the protest, the document says, Lysak was staying in a trailer in Coutts.

“On or about Feb. 10 or 11, 2022, Mr. Lysak emptied out his ammunition bag to use the bag for laundry and discovered that his Sig Sauer semi-automatic handgun was inside the bag,” it says.

“Mr. Lysak had forgotten he had quickly placed his handgun in the bag when his daughters knocked on his bedroom door at home in Lethbridge before he left for Coutts. Mr. Lysak panicked and placed the handgun under a pillow in the trailer.”

It says police executed a search warrant several days later and found a cache of firearms, including Lysak’s semi-automatic handgun. It was loaded with a round in the chamber, says the document.

It says Lysak was arrested outside the main location where protesters had been gathering.

The ACPS said Lysak was sentenced to three years in prison, which was satisfied with his two years in custody. The Crown also said Lysek received a 10-year weapons prohibition, including providing DNA, and forfeiting the firearms he currently owns to another valid gun license holder.

Greg Dunn, Morin’s counsel, said in an email that Morin “steadfastly maintained from the very beginning” that he was not party to any conspiracy to murder RCMP. Dunn said his client was “relieved and grateful” those charges were withdrawn by the Crown.

“Moreover the charge that Mr. Morin plead guilty to does not suggest that Mr. Morin at any time took firearms into Coutts, only that he agreed to,” Dunn said in the statement.

An agreed statement of facts in his case says he attended the blockade on a number of occasions between Feb. 9 and Feb. 14, 2022.

The document says Morin, an Olds, Alta. resident, was asked by others to bring his “guitar and amplifier,” which was coded language for firearms and ammunition. He agreed to do so, the document says.

ACPS said Morin pleaded guilty to conspiring to traffic firearms.

The Crown said Morin received a 3.25-year jail sentence, which was satisfied by the two years already served and time spent in segregation. Like Lysak, Morin now has a 10-year weapons prohibition, was ordered to provide DNA and to transfer his firearms to another valid gun license holder.

Darryl Ruether, a spokesman for the Alberta Court of King’s Bench, confirmed to The Canadian Press that both men were released from custody.

Song and Dunn said their respective clients look forward to moving on with their lives.

The ACPS said the charges against Olienick and Carbert remain before the court, and a new jury trial date of May 27 was scheduled after the June 2023 dates were adjourned.

–with files from The Canadian Press

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