A local man charged with smuggling stun guns into the country, thinking everything could be bought online legally, will pay a hefty fine.
Sheldon James Davidson, 31, was ordered to pay $2,500 by judge Calvin Struyk in provincial court here Feb. 10.
Defence lawyer Joseph McCarthy told court his client did not pay attention to what was legal, assuming anything available on the internet was legal to buy, albeit foolishly.
“Ignorance of the law is no excuse. He repented, is contrite and will not do it again,” said McCarthy.
On April 16, 2012, Canada Border Services Agency officers at the Vancouver International Mail Centre examined a package from Hong Kong.
It was destined for a Terrace residential address, reported police at that time.
The parcel was declared as “electrical toys,” however, when officers X-rayed it, it didn’t look like that so they opened the box and found 21 stun guns.
Twenty were found to be in the style of a flashlight and one was rectangular, said police.
Officers from the Prince Rupert Border Integrity Program was contacted and executed a search warrant at a residential address in Terrace April 27, 2012.
They were assisted by the RCMP’s North District Drug Section and the local RCMP detachment’s Terrace General Investigative Section / Crime Reduction Unit, said police.
During the search, a 28-year-old man was arrested and officers seized five additional flashlight-style stun guns with the word “police” on them.
Davidson also has to forfeit the stun guns in the package and those found in his residence – a total of 26 stun guns.
A charge of exchange/sell/purchase illegally imported goods was subsequently stayed by the court.