Pattrick Rossetti, 47, pleaded guilty to three weapons-related offences, including possession of a prohibited weapon Thursday. He was facing 28 charges.
“The matter was set for trial because I perceived some issues in the search of my client’s residence which would have led, hopefully from our perspective, to knocking out all of the evidence, but none of these things are ever certain, so working with the prosecutor, we came to a resolution between the two of us that we were both happy with,” lawyer Balfour Der said.
READ MORE: Man faces 28 criminal charges after guns, ammunition discovered in Lethbridge house
The search of Rossetti’s home was prompted after a friend who was living on Rossetti’s property in a holiday trailer went to police and said they’d had a confrontation.
Police obtained a search warrant, seizing 193 items from the home.
“The vast majority of the firearms in particular that were in the house were decommissioned old war weapons,” Der said. “They couldn’t be fired, there was no danger to anyone.”
The Crown said that wasn’t the case for all items found. Among some of the prohibited weapons seized were a switch blade, butterfly knife and over capacity ammunition clips.
Rossetti’s lawyer told the judge he had been given the blade and the knife by family members of a friend who’d passed away; he’d just stowed them away and never used them.
As for the prohibited weapons, Der said his client didn’t even know what he had was illegal.
“It was an eye opener to him because when he purchased a number of these things, they were supposed to be decommissioned, and it turns out that some weren’t through no fault of his own. That part is disappointing for him. He ended up with what he thought was a legitimate purchase, and getting things that turned out to be not as advertised.”
Some of the guns and accessories will be returned to Rossetti, others have to be decommissioned and handed over to someone with proper permits. The others will be destroyed.
Rossetti will pay a $2,500 fine and he was a given a 10-year firearms prohibition.
Rossetti also was facing a charge of uttering threats which was dealt with by way of a $1,000 peace bond. All remaining charges were stayed.
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