Ontario man to be sentenced next week on gun smuggling charges in U.S.
Posted October 7, 2013 10:16 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
WINNIPEG – An Ontario man nabbed in an international gun-smuggling sting staged by Winnipeg RCMP has agreed to a plea deal.
Shawn James Hartnell, 29, of Fort Frances, Ont., will be sentenced in Fargo, N.D., on Oct. 17.
He pleaded guilty to conspiring to export firearms into Canada in exchange for U.S. federal prosecutors recommending he get a break on a possible five-year sentence.
Hartnell was arrested after he met up with two undercover officers and brokered a deal to sell them two semi-automatic rifles he acquired in the U.S. for $2,000 each.
Court documents indicate he told the officers he could get more weapons across the border by snowmobile.
The sting continued for several months until Hartnell was arrested in Grand Forks, N.D.
RCMP said he still faces 35 weapons-related charges in Manitoba and have obtained an arrest warrant.
The same day Hartnell was arrested, Winnipeg RCMP moved in to arrest Thomas Peter Atkinson, 23, in Fort Frances in the same investigation.
Atkinson is currently free on bail while facing numerous weapons charges dating back to April 30, 2012.
