A Prince George man well known to the police and the courts was found guilty Thursday of attempting to sell stolen firearms through cohorts on the outside while he was in custody at the Prince George Regional Correctional Centre.
As it turned out, the plan backfired in more ways than one for Jamie Hal Hammerstrom, 37. Although he was eventually acquitted on the charges that first put him in custody, he now faces sentencing on 22 convictions as a result of the failed scheme to raise money for bail.
Hammerstrom was arrested on Dec. 23, 2011 on suspicion of fleeing police in a stolen pickup truck earlier the same day but a year later was found not guilty after Crown prosecution was unable to prove the driver's identity beyond a reasonable doubt.
However, shortly after Hammerstrom's arrest on those charges, police received a tip that he ordered his two housemates in the 2000 block Quince Street home where they were living to sell his guns to raise bail money.
In early January, police executed a search warrant and seized five rifles and two shotguns from the home and about two weeks later seized a handgun from a 200 block Kelly Road home.
They also obtained recordings of phone conversations involving Hammerstrom while he was in jail, which proved much of his undoing.
Over the course of a five-week trial, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Brenda Brown heard 14 such recordings and on Thursday concluded references made by those involved to "wooden things," "shorts," "long things," "long pants" and "toys" were code words for the guns.
"When Mr. Hammerstrom talks of selling or keeping other things, he does so by name, such as TV, gold coins etcetera, yet the 'long things' and 'short things' are referred to only by description...it is clear from other references in the recordings that Mr. Hammerstrom and his associates were aware that the conversations were being recorded and had reason to obscure their meaning," Brown said.
The allegation was further supported by testimony from others involved in the scheme who said code words were used to refer to the guns, Brown continued, and added the references coincide with descriptions of the weapons seized. Brown was also satisfied the guns had been stolen after hearing testimony from police and victims.
In a separate decision, Brown also dismissed an application to stay the charges because they took nearly two years to make it to trial. That as many as six people were facing charges at one point and that Hammerstrom was in custody on other charges were factors in Brown's decision.
Hammerstrom was found guilty of seven counts of illegally possessing a weapon for transfer, seven counts of possessing a weapon obtained through crime and eight counts of knowingly possessing a firearm without a licence.
About a half-dozen RCMP members were in the courtroom to hear the verdict and were in a celebratory mood following the decision. Hammerstrom faces up to 10 years in prison on the charges. A date to hear submissions on sentencing will be set later this month.
Three others have received sentences on the matter. Hammerstrom's housemates,
Geofferey John Last and Zachary Michael Curtis Doolittle, were each sentenced to 18-month conditional sentences - served in their homes - after pleading guilty to one count each of unauthorized possession of a firearm and unsafe storage of a firearm.
And just prior to the first day of Hammerstrom's trial in November, Samantha Nicole Patrick was sentenced to nine months in jail for possession of a stolen firearm and to 30 days for possessing a firearm without a licence in relation to the incident.
