A Prince George man was sentenced to a further four months in jail after pleading guilty Friday to charges related to the discovery of two pipe bombs and other weapons in a Spruceland neighbourhood home.
Dustin Jeffrey Olson, 26, will also serve two years probation upon release under the terms issued in Prince George provincial court. Charges against co-accused Meranda Leigh Dingwall, 25, were stayed in February.
The convictions are related to a November 2015 incident memorable for the fact that the 1100 block of Ahbau was cordoned off for about 2 1/2 hours and neighbours asked to vacate their homes, as an emergency response team and an explosive disposal unit were called in to clear the home.
Acting on a tip that he was possessing explosives and illegal firearms, the Prince George RCMP's street crew had pulled Olson over the day before as he was leaving the home. They found a baggy holding gun powder and matches as well as a collapsible baton and photos of firearms on his cellphone.
It was enough to get a warrant to search the home the next day and RCMP found the pipe bombs sitting in a drawer. They consisted of steel pipes capped at either end but no fuse inserted. They contained gun powder that appeared to have been scavenged from fireworks, also found in the home. They also held .30-calibre bullets that would have added to the shrapnel. An expert later concluded they would have had enough firepower to throw shrapnel as far as 100 metres.
RCMP also found a wooden bat with spikes on the end and two rifles - an SKS semi-automatic and a bolt-action .303. Both were locked away in a closet and Olson had taken a course on firearms safety. But while he had applied for a firearms licence, it had not yet been given to him.
Moreover, an overcapacity magazine holding 26 rounds was loaded into the SKS and a bandolier holding another five rounds was hung around the magazine. The legal limit is five rounds, the court was told. As well, a homemade silencer was uncovered.
Crown counsel was seeking as much as nine months and defence counsel seven months less credit of four months for time served prior to sentencing. Judge Randall Callan settled on a further three months for the counts related to the explosives, firearms and other weapons and a further 30 days for failing to appear in court for the first day of his trial in December.
He was arrested a few days later after RCMP sent out a press release asking for the public's help in tracking him down and has remained in custody ever since. In February, another inmate broke his jaw and he has since been in segregation, the court heard.
As to why he possessed the items, Olson initially claimed he was holding the rifles for someone else and the explosives as a form of self protection. An array of security cameras were also found around the perimeter of the home.
However, defence counsel Jason LeBlond said it appeared Olson was inspired by what he had seen on television and in the movies and simply let his curiosity get the better of himself.
Although he found Olson's actions dangerous, Callan accepted a combination of immaturity and poor thinking was the cause and, noting there were no fuses in the bombs, concluded he had no real intention of using them.
