Four men have been in remand since they were arrested for their actions tied to the highway blockade near the Canada-U.S. border at Coutts, Alta., in February, 2022.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Two of the four men charged with conspiracy to commit murder for their roles in the 2022 protests against government mandates designed to suppress the spread of COVID-19 have pleaded guilty to lesser charges in Alberta.
The four men have been in remand since they were arrested for their actions tied to the highway blockade near the Canada-U.S. border at Coutts, Alta., in February, 2022. RCMP seized a cache of guns and alleged the men were plotting to kill Mounties.
Jerry Morin on Tuesday pleaded guilty to conspiring to traffic firearms and received a sentence of 3.25 years in jail. Christopher Lysak pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in an unauthorized place and was sentenced to three years, according to a statement from the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service.
Both jail sentences have been satisfied by the time the men have served in remand, the ACPS said.
Lawyers for Chris Carbert and Anthony Olienick, the two men charged alongside Mr. Morin and Mr. Lysak in 2022, did not return messages seeking comment. Mr. Carbert and Mr. Olienick are still in custody, and the charges against them have not been tested in court. A jury trial is scheduled for May, 2024, the ACPS said in a separate statement.
The Federal Court last month ruled the federal government was not justified in invoking the Emergencies Act in its effort to end the protests that shut down the border near Coutts and gripped downtown Ottawa in early 2022.
The RCMP, during the two-week protest at Coutts, used undercover operatives and emergency wiretaps to gather evidence. Wiretaps between Mr. Morin and others revealed a “conspiracy to deliver firearms, ammunition and other equipment” to the conspiring group for criminal purposes, according to an agreed statement of facts Mr. Morin signed. That document is dated Feb. 6, 2024.
One co-conspirator, identified in the new court documents as X, asked Mr. Morin to bring his “guitar and amplifier,” which was coded language for guns and ammunition, the court document says. Mr. Morin agreed. He also texted and messaged with three co-conspirators, and subsequently googled an address, which is where another co-conspirator, labelled Y, had firearms, according to the document.
Undercover operatives then learned of a detailed plan to bring guns and ammunition into Coutts, and on Feb. 13, 2022, they saw Mr. Morin arrive in a truck in a field near the main protest site, the document said.
Mr. Morin, through his lawyer, Greg Dunn, said that while he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic firearms, that does not mean he ferried guns to Coutts.
“Mr. Morin has steadfastly maintained from the very beginning that he played no part of any alleged conspiracy to murder police officers and is relieved and grateful that those charges, and associated allegations, have been withdrawn by the Crown,” Mr. Dunn said in a statement. “Moreover the charge that Mr. Morin plead guilty to does not suggest that Mr. Morin at any time took firearms into Coutts, only that he agreed to.”
Mr. Morin was ordered to submit his DNA, transfer his firearms to another authorized firearms owner, and faces a 10-year weapons prohibition.
Mr. Lysak signed a separate agreed statement of facts. It said he packed his Remington rifle model 700 and ammunition bag to hunt coyotes in case he got bored during the protest. While at Coutts, he emptied his ammunition bag, to use it as a laundry bag, and found his Sig Sauer semi-automatic handgun inside.
Mr. Lysak, the document said, forgot he put the gun in the bag when his daughters knocked on his bedroom door at his home in Lethbridge. He “panicked” after discovering the handgun and put it under a pillow in the trailer he was staying at in Coutts, the document says.
RCMP found the gun loaded, with a round in the chamber, the court filing said. Mr. Lysak had valid licences for both the rifle and handgun, but was not authorized to possess the handgun at the trailer, the document says.
He, too, received a 10-year weapons prohibition, must submit his DNA and forfeit his firearms to another licensed owner.
His lawyer, Daniel Song, noted the original charges tied to Mr. Lysak’s time in Coutts were withdrawn after the sentencing.
“To be clear, Mr. Lysak did not admit to possessing his handgun for a dangerous purpose. He did not attend the Coutts protests with the intent to harm anyone,” Mr. Song said in a statement. “He admits that his firearm was loaded with ammunition at the time of police seizure, but denies having loaded and chambered the gun.”