Crown seeking up to 10 years for firearms-related charges
A 28-year-old man with a decade-long criminal history could be facing up to a decade in jail after pleading guilty to a number of mostly firearms-related charges in Richmond provincial court.
Robert Joshua Achadinha's sentencing hearing will continue on April 10, but Richmond provincial court Judge Jane McKinnon heard arguments Wednesday from Crown counsel Elizabeth Rennie that she may be asking for a sentence of between eight to 10 years, taking into consideration his guilty pleas.
Achadinha has been behind bars since November 2010, when he was arrested by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit during a crackdown in response to a rise in violent gang activity in the Lower Mainland.
He was originally charged with 18 fire-arms related offences, several of which allegedly occurred in Richmond.
Achadinha was arrested along with Christopher Henry Iser in connection with an Oct. 27 incident at Kensington Park in Vancouver.
During the crackdown, police seized three assault rifles, three semi-automatic pistols, a loaded handgun, night vision goggles, $20,000 in cash, body armour, counterfeit currency and two vehicles with professionally installed hidden compartments.
Achadinha has pled guilty to two counts of manufacturing or transferring a firearm, two counts of possessing a restricted firearm with ammunition, uttering counterfeit currency, and trafficking in a controlled substance.
Rennie told the court that Achadinha was the subject of three separate firearms prohibitions at the time of his arrest.
He has a youth and adult criminal record, with "no significant break" in the record.
During a 2008 home invasion, in which he shot the homeowner, he was found guilty of breaking and entering and assault, and received a 47 month jail sentence.
Achadinha suffered from attention deficit disorder as a youth, and lives in foster homes, and battled a substance abuse problem.
Even during his incarceration, he continued to use drugs, Rennie told the court.
She's seeking a six-year sentence for firearms trafficking, and four years for unlawful possession of a firearm.
Rennie is also seeking a one-year sentence for uttering counterfeit currency.
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