A Prince George man was sentenced Tuesday to three years and nine months in jail for a trio of charges related to the discovery of a gun and some drugs.
Less credit for time served prior to sentencing, Dylan Leslie Prince, 23, has a further 2 1/2 years to serve for the May 2018 incident that began when plain clothes RCMP driving an unmarked vehicle drove by a Nation Crescent home linked to the drug trade.
They came across three men moving bags between vehicles with "great urgency" the court was told. The trunk of one of the vehicles was open and, in plain view, police could see what appeared to be a stock for a rifle.
The three - Prince, Craig Anthony Neidermayer and Ryan John Moore - were arrested and searched.
On Prince, RCMP found an array of drugs, from marijuana and cocaine to heroine, fentanyl and methemphetamine. But the quantities fell short of the threshold for a trafficking charge and Prince eventually pleaded guilty to possessing controlled substances.
The matter did not stop there. On the home's lawn, about 20 feet away from the vehicles, was a sports bag. Police lacked reasonable cause to search the bag until Prince twice suggested they would be interested in it.
Concerned about what they would find inside, police asked if it held a gun. Prince said yes and police subsequently pulled out a sawed-off shotgun, loaded with four shells. Four more shells were found inside the bag along with masks, balaclavas, gloves, bolt cutters and a pry bar - leading to a charge of possessing break-in instruments.
Prince initially declined to say whose bag it was but eventually took responsibility for its ownership. On that matter, Prince pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited firearm and possessing a firearm contrary to an order.
The stock found in the vehicle turned out to be for a pellet gun and the bags they were transferring between vehicles were suitcases in which police found no evidence of criminal activity, the court was told.
Neidermayer and Moore are both well known to the police and were the initial subject of their investigation. But charges against Moore were eventually stayed while Niedermayer was sentenced to time served for breaching a recognizance.
Prince has a history of committing similar offences and in November 2016 he was sentenced to a further 9 1/2 months in jail after RCMP discovered a cache of weapons in a car he was driving. The court was told Prince was doing well upon his release until he returned to Prince George and fell back in with his old crowd. He plans to stay away from this city upon his release, the court was told.
Because the remainder of his latest sentence is greater than two years, it will be served in a federal facility. The charge of possessing break-in instruments was stayed.
The sentence came by way of a joint submission from Crown and defence counsels.
