It appears the legal saga of Gerald Stanley may be over.
Stanley pleaded guilty to improperly storing firearms at a North Battleford courtroom Monday afternoon.
The Biggar area farmer now faces a $3,000 fine and a 10-year weapons ban. Stanley must also forfeit any firearm he owns. He will also have to pay the court a $900 surcharge.
In February, Stanley was found not guilty in the shooting death of 22-year-old Colten Boushie, from the Red Pheasant First Nation.
The firearms charges were related to several guns the RCMP found on his property after the tragedy.
Boushie along with an SUV full of people drove onto Stanley’s farm in August 2016. After an altercation, Boushie was shot and killed.
The jury’s decision to acquit Stanley in the shooting led to calls from Indigenous leaders and members of Boushie’s family for change in the Canadian justice system, which they feel negatively impacts Indigenous people.
As Stanley walked into court on Monday, a handful of protesters yelled obscenities towards him.
He was facing two firearm charges; six counts of improperly storing firearms and one count of owning a restricted weapon.
The Crown dropped the restricted weapon charge and Stanley pleaded guilty to the storage charges.
Crown and Defence put forward a joint submission for sentencing, which the judge accepted.
In court, Crown prosecutor Chris Brown said this sentence was at the higher end of a conviction of this nature.
Defence lawyer Scott Spencer told the court that Stanley wishes he never owned a gun and says the farmer plans to never own a gun again.
Stanley declined to comment to the court.
Outside the court, Colten Boushie’s brother, Jace Boushie, says he now knows he will never get closure, but remains hopeful that his brother’s death will be the catalyst for change in the justice system.
“I feel that this is not fair, but hopefully this fight to change the justice system will make it better for other people,” he told reporters.
Other well-known members of Boushie’s family, like Jade Tootoosis, Alvin Baptiste and Debbie Baptiste were not at the courthouse.
They are currently at a United Nations conference in New York where they are sharing their story.
(PHOTO: Gerald Stanley. File photo.)