A North Island woman with a lifetime firearms ban was sentenced to four years in jail, after getting caught with a Rubbermaid tote full of gun parts and ammunition.
On April 2, 2020, Stephanie McMillan was pulled over in Port Hardy during a traffic stop. Officers found a prohibited sawed-off shotgun, 1,300 rounds of various ammunition, and enough parts to assemble several rifles. She has a lifetime firearms ban from 2016.
“Ms. McMillan was transporting these weapons and ammunition in the middle of the day in a highly populated area. Despite Ms. McMillan’s statements to police… it remains unclear where she was going and what it was that she was going to do with them,” Justice Mark Jetté said last week in his written reasons for judgment.
One month later in May 2020 she was pulled over in Surrey, and caught with crystal meth and thousands in cash. She has several prior convictions for drug trafficking.
Justice Jetté said in his reasons for judgment that McMillan has made a recent effort to beat her drug addiction, and reduced her sentence by a year. Born and raised in Port Alice, the judge noted she has an “unfortunate family background that played a central role in her addiction and descent into criminality.”
He noted that she has remained sober for the last two years and is making positive changes in her life. He also noted she is in the final stages of pregnancy.
He concluded that a full five-year sentence would be “unduly harsh and disproportionate” and reduced it to four years in jail. She will also be required to provide samples of bodily substances while in custody.
