Former Montreal-area daycare manager sentenced to 3 years for smuggling ghost guns

A former Quebec daycare manager who smuggled ghost guns across the Canadian border has been sentenced to three years in prison.

A former Quebec daycare manager who smuggled six ghost guns across the Canadian border has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Stacy St-Pierre, 43, pleaded guilty to the weapons charge in April following his arrest by the RCMP on July 14, 2023.

Quebec Court Justice Stéphane Godri delivered the sentence Thursday morning at the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu courthouse, agreeing with the Crown prosecutor that a 36-month sentence was an appropriate punishment for the crime.

The defence had asked for a sentence between 18 and 24 months served in the community.

• READ MORE: Former Montreal-area daycare manager pleads guilty to smuggling ghost guns across Canadian border

At the time of his arrest, St-Pierre was one of the managers of a daycare with two locations west of Montreal.

His spouse, 46-year-old Ruby Sharma — also a manager — was arrested in 2023 but was acquitted of all charges in April.

According to an agreed statement of facts filed in court, the guns St-Pierre smuggled into Canada were “all functional and in good firing condition.”

Ghost guns — typically made from assembled parts or 3D printers, making them difficult for police to trace — are a “growing public safety risk,” according to Public Safety Canada

The judge underscored the harm illegal firearms cause in communities when he rendered his decision on Thursday, noting that St-Pierre seemed to have been motivated by the high resale value of the guns.

“The message must be clear. The importation of prohibited firearms that cannot be traced in Canada will and must be severely punished,” Justice Godri said.

“We live in a country where gun ownership is highly regulated and controlled. It is a matter of public safety and a societal choice. By acting as he did, the accused prioritized profit over human life and committed a crime against every citizen, who should not have to worry about prohibited, untraceable firearms being in circulation in the country and used to commit crimes.”

Ten letters were presented to the judge, including those from St-Pierre’s colleagues at the daycare and his mother, describing him as “a thorough person, a good boss, and a good father to his two children.”

Caught on RCMP surveillance camera

An RCMP border camera captured footage of an unidentified man who drove a black Jeep Gladiator to the Canadian border in Rouses Point, N.Y., on July 14, 2023, at 3 p.m. and threw a black box filled with weapons into a field on the Canadian side.

He drove away and, a few minutes later, St-Pierre arrived in his black Infiniti QX60 on the Canadian side in Lacolle, Que.

He made a phone call and then got out of the car to pick up the box of weapons and returned to his vehicle.

• READ MORE: Parents shocked after two Montreal-area daycare managers charged with smuggling ghost guns

When an RCMP patrol car arrived minutes later, he threw the box into the grass.

“The weapons box bounces open, scattering its contents across the long grass,” the document stated.

Once the officer met up with him, St-Pierre — with his fly down — told the officer that he had stopped to urinate as he was on his way home from a golf club.

The officer, who did not see St-Pierre throw the box and did not know that another man had launched it over the border, cleared him to leave.

But minutes later, a second patrol car arrived on the scene, and that officer noticed the box of weapons discarded in the grass.

The two pursued St-Pierre and arrested him at 3:33 p.m.

Sending a strong message about gun crime

The case was successfully prosecuted by federal Crown prosecutor Gabriel Lapierre, who told CTV News that the sentence highlights judges’ preferences to impose harsher sentences for firearm offences.

In denying the defendant’s ability to serve his sentence in the community, as requested by the defence, the judge sent a strong message about denouncing and deterring the illegal importation of firearms offences, he said.

“Their only purpose is to maim, kill and threaten human beings. So this is why, when it comes to importation, it has to be expected that one would receive a lengthy sentence in prison,” Lapierre said in an interview.

“Members of the community have to be deterred. They have to understand that if they fall into that kind of criminality, they will likely end up in jail.”

With files from CTV News’ Stéphane Giroux.