A Prince George man's apparent attempt to take the fall for two other accused men fell short of convincing the judge in Prince George provincial court Wednesday.
Just before he was sentenced to six years in jail, Reginald James Davis, 43, told the court that, contrary to his previous story, he was responsible for all the guns police found in a 2200 block Quince Street home on May 18, 2011.
Two other men, Colby Selly John Johnson and Wade Selly Gray Johnson, were also arrested and their cases are set for trial in Supreme Court in November.
Police executed a search warrant after receiving a tip that Colby Johnson had two firearms in his home, Judge Robert Hamilton said in recounting the evidence before issuing his verdict.
They found a sawed-off .22 calibre semiautomatic rifle, a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun and a rifle police said was stolen in Terrace.
Police also found ammunition spread throughout the home and in the possession of Davis, who was living with Colby Johnson at the time.
When he was first arrested, Davis denied to the RCMP any knowledge of the firearms but in June 2011 he gave a sworn statement that he knew the firearms were stolen and that Colby Johnson asked him to hide the weapons.
Davis, who was representing himself after firing his lawyer, stuck with the story when he pleaded guilty to three charges in September but on Wednesday, while he continued to uphold the guilty pleas, maintained that neither Colby nor Wade Johnson were involved in any fashion.
Davis told the court he gave the statement while in a state of confusion and fired his lawyer so he could tell the real version of the events.
But Hamilton dismissed that story.
"I do not accept Mr. Davis's new position today," Hamilton said. "He had plenty of opportunity to advise his lawyer when he was represented of these new facts, he could have told [the author] of his pre-sentence report or he could have told me during an earlier court appearance when he said he would be representing himself. I believe this is a last ditch attempt to assist the Johnson brothers and I reject it."
Had Hamilton agreed with the latest version, Davis would have faced a longer jail term. As it stood, Hamilton described Davis's crimes as serious in their own right.
"He was assisting members of a local gang in Prince George to hide extremely dangerous weapons, weapons that I infer these gang members were going to use in some fashion to further their violent criminal behaviour," Hamilton said.
Davis was also described as a habitual offender and drug addict who showed no willingness to change his ways. The only mitigating factor, said Hamilton, was his decision to plead guilty.
Davis was sentenced to six years for possessing a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition but received credit for 212 days of time served in custody, reducing his sentence to five years and 152 days.
He was also sentenced concurrent terms of a year in jail for possessing a weapon obtained through an offence and to time served for improper storage of a firearm and issued a lifetime firearms prohibition.
On separate cases, Davis was sentenced to nine months in jail for uttering threats and to 15 days for mischief $5,000 or under and to 14 days for willfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer.
