6-year prison sentence for selling guns to gangs

Theodore Mantas didn't set out to become a gun trafficker, but floundering business prospects and an ill-timed meeting with acquaintances in low places set him on a course that landed him a six-year prison sentence, a court heard Monday.

Mantas, 35, pleaded guilty last month, on what was to be the first day of his trial to one count of possessing restricted firearms for the purposes of trafficking.

According to an agreed statement of facts previously provided to court, Mantas legally purchased 21 restricted and four non-restricted firearms between 2012 and 2013. Three of the guns were recovered from the home of a Mad Cowz gang member and a fourth at the scene of a Portage Avenue shoot-out between rival gang members. The remaining 21 guns have not been recovered.

"That's a very real manifestation of the risk Mr. Mantas poses to the public," Crown attorney Mike Desautels told court Monday.

Winnipegger bought guns legally, sold them to gangs

Mantas "was involved in a long-term plan with multiple persons involved in organized crime in Winnipeg to traffic the firearms he had legally acquired, and as such was a straw purchaser," says the agreed statement of facts.

Mantas has no prior criminal record, a fact that "cuts both ways," Desautels said, "because one can't be a straw purchaser with a criminal record."

Police seized Mantas' cell phone and uncovered coded communications allegedly discussing the sale of firearms.

Mantas had previously worked at a gun store and started buying guns with the goal of opening his own business, defence lawyer Jody Ostapiw told court. But Mantas couldn't find a retail space and "maxed himself out" financially.

"It really was a valid pursuit … but he just couldn't get it off the ground," Ostapiw said. 

When Mantas met for drinks with some gang-connected acquaintances, they broached the subject of buying guns from Mantas.

Mantas, "strapped for cash," agreed to sell them one firearm, Ostapiw said. 

What started as a "one-off" turned into a series of transactions as the buyers "kept coming back and coming back," Ostapiw said.  

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"I never really believed these guys were violent … and that these guns would be used for anything more than posturing," Ostapiw quoted Mantas as saying.

Justice Robert Dewar initially expressed concern the jointly recommended six-year sentence was too low, saying Mantas likely would have been sentenced to eight or nine years had he gone to trial. 

"I don't have a great deal of sympathy for people who traffic in guns," Dewar said.

Dewar ultimately agreed to the six-year sentence, saying problems with the case, including a likely dispute over the meaning of the text message communications, could have resulted in an outright acquittal.