Gerald Stanley pleads guilty to gun charge

As Gerald Stanley entered North Battleford provincial court on Monday, he was called a “coward” and a “murderer.”

The Saskatchewan farmer acquitted in the fatal shooting of Colten Boushie, 22, pleaded guilty to unsafe storage of a firearm.

The Crown dropped a second count of unsafe storage of a restricted handgun.

As part of a joint submission by counsel that was accepted by the judge, Stanley is to give up all of his guns.

He was also ordered to pay a $3,000 fine and $900 surcharge in connection to the charge involving six non-restricted firearms – consisting of both rifles and shotguns.

His court appearance was brief and the 56-year-old man chose not to address the court. He was then handed down his sentence and left court a free man, concluding the criminal aspect of this case.

“It hurt to see him again, to see him walk freely,” Colten Boushie’s brother, Jace Baptiste, said.

“If that was me or any other Indigenous person that was standing trial for murder or other gun charges – we would be on remand, we wouldn’t be out walking freely, we would (be) incarcerated.”

Stanley is also to comply with a 10-year ban on possessing a firearm and court heard that he wishes he had never owned a gun.

“Mr. Stanley doesn’t desire to own a gun ever again,” his lawyer, Scott Spencer, told court.

Stanley was acquitted in the death of Boushie, who was shot and killed on Stanley’s farm in August 2016.

“We have no closure, I don’t think we’ll ever get that closure and apparently you can get away with murder,” Baptiste said.

Boushie was one of five young people who drove onto Stanley‘s farm near Biggar in 2016. His friends testified they were looking for help with a flat tire.

Stanley told the trial he thought they were trying to steal an all-terrain vehicle. He testified he fired warning shots to scare them away and the gun accidentally went off again when he went to pull the keys from their SUV.

With files from The Canadian Press