Gun smuggler worries he fuelled record year of murders
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Randy Jackson admitted Monday that he smuggled 67 firearms from his native Michigan into the black market in Ontario in 2017.
While in custody last year, Jackson said he wondered how much of Toronto’s record shooting and homicide spree in 2018 was caused by his weapons, court heard.
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“It was a painful feeling to see so many (shooting) stories break (on the nightly news) and wonder if I had any fault in it,” the 35-year-old father of four told court Monday. “I never thought too seriously about the consequences of my actions.”
Jackson, who served 15 years in the military, completed community college and had an “80 % average” while studying health-care administration at Eastern Michigan University, swore he had no involvement in either domestic or foreign gangs.
Jackson pleaded guilty to three counts of importing three firearms stashed inside his compression-style underpants while he tried to cross the Sarnia-Michigan border on Oct. 12, 2017. He also pleaded guilty to four other firearm trafficking offences in 2017.
Crown attorney Erin Pancer said in her agreed statement of fact that Jackson came on radar of Toronto Police Service’s firearm enforcement unit after officers found a loaded Glock handgun in an unrelated investigation in downtown Toronto in July 2017.
Officers determined that Jackson purchased that handgun in the U.S. and he often bought firearms on the same day that he crossed the border, using his NEXUS pass.
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Jackson has two children with a London, Ont., who also has two kids from a previous relationship. He visited her every weekend while living, working and studying in Michigan, court heard.
Twelve of Jackson’s firearms have turned up at crimes scenes, mostly on drug dealers, in the GTA, Durham and Middlesex counties — six last year and nine in 2017, said Pancer.
The former Michigan National Guard member was linked to as many as 67 firearms that he purchased in 2017 and he admitted none were for his personal use, court heard.
“Leaving these offences aside, Jackson appears to have led an exemplary life,” said his lawyer, Christian Angelini. “He had no criminal record, no arrest record. It’s sad this mistake is having a great effect on him and his family.”
Once Jackson is paroled, he’ll be deported to Michigan and will not be permitted to return to Canada so he cannot visit his London family there, said Angelini.
Justice Riun Shandler will pass sentence on Friday Jan. 11.
spazzano@postmedia.com
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