Warrants out for 3D-printed gun suspects
Leslie Dawn Boyd and Brady Geoffrey Storey, of Geary, no-shows in court Wednesday
A Geary couple facing serious weapons charges stemming from alleged 3D-printing of firearms failed to attend court Wednesday, so a judge issued warrants for their arrest..
Leslie Dawn Boyd, 26, and Brady Geoffrey Storey, 30, both of Broad Road in Geary, were scheduled to return to Fredericton provincial court Wednesday to elect mode of trial and enter pleas.
They’re accused jointly of manufacturing 3D-printed handguns and handgun frames without authorization; possessing those 3D-printed items with intent to transfer them; possessing those prohibited 3D-printed firearms with readily accessible ammunition; possessing a revolver and two 3D-printed handguns without a licence; possessing those three firearms without a licence or registration certificate; possessing prohibited weapons (five sets of brass knuckles); and possessing an auto-conversion kit and six overcapacity magazines, which are all prohibited devices.
The RCMP charges allege offences committed in Geary on June 20.
When Judge Henrik Tonning called the case Wednesday, neither defendant was present.
During their initial court appearance on the charges last month, they were accompanied by two Fredericton defence lawyers, Patrick Hurley and Robert Digdon.
However, those lawyers noted at the time they hadn’t been retained yet, but that Boyd and Storey were hoping to do so.
Though Hurley wasn’t present in court Wednesday, Digdon was on hand, and he noted the Geary couple still hadn’t retained them as counsel yet.
Crown prosecutor Geoffrey Hutchin asked the court to issue warrants for the couple’s arrest.
Digdon suggested those warrants could be held in the file to give them a chance to attend.
He said there could be a valid reason they were unable to get to court.
When Tonning asked him if Boyd and Storey knew of Wednesday’s proceedings and the need for them to attend, Digdon acknowledged they were present last month and were advised as such.
The judge issued the warrants as requested, noting the couple would be appearing in court, one way or another.
The RCMP reported earlier this year that acting on intelligence from the Mounties’ integrated firearms trafficking team in Montreal, officers with its New Brunswick crime reduction unit investigated the manufacture of 3D-printed guns in the capital region.
As a result, the RCMP said in a news release, officers secured and executed a search warrant at a residence on Broad Road in Geary on June 20.
“During the search, police seized 11 firearms, including restricted and prohibited firearms, eight 3D-printed handgun frames, eight prohibited devices (over-capacity magazines), four body-armour carriers with plates, and six prohibited weapons,” the release said.
“Police also seized prohibited 3D printed firearm devices, one prohibited firearm conversion kit, several thousand rounds of ammunition and other firearm manufacturing parts.”
Storey and Boyd were arrested at that residence and released on conditions.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.