Enters Guilty Plea, Faces 12-Year Term

Inflamed Violence In City, Court Told

If you needed a .40-calibre Glock handgun, Jeffrey Tuck was your man. 

A sawed-off shotgun? No problem. 

A semi-automatic rifle? Tuck could get that for you, too. 

In fact, the 24-year-old Toronto man could get just about any type of weapon and ammunition quickly with his place-your-order, get-your-gun, criminal enterprise. 

He could get drugs as well -- marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine and heroin. 

Toronto prosecutors yesterday portrayed the clean-cut and seemingly polite Tuck as a major gunrunner who was responsible for fuelling gun violence on city streets. 

"He is the individual who is supplying the people who are basically causing havoc in the Toronto community," Crown attorney Warren Thompson told Justice Ramez Khawly after Tuck pleaded guilty to 29 gun and drug-related charges. 

The Ontario Court judge heard that Tuck had been running a "one-stop shopping" and "purchase-to-order" operation selling guns and drugs, until police put an end to it in 2003 with an undercover operation that netted several high-powered weapons and a large quantity of drugs and ammunition. 

Thompson said Tuck would tell potential buyers: "I'll get you a Glock, I'll get you a sawed-off shotgun."

And what's worse is Tuck was running his guns and drug business while out on bail on a murder charge, Thompson told the judge. 

"You basically put your order in and got your gun," the Crown said, adding that among the nine guns police bought or seized from Tuck were six handguns, two shotguns and a rifle.  The weapons ordered through Tuck's criminal enterprise had no other purpose than "for killing people."

Thompson and federal prosecutor Chris de Sa urged the judge to send a strong message to those who sell guns that they will face stiff jail sentences.  The prosecution argued that Tuck should be locked up for at least 12 years. 

"If you don't go after the source, then we have no ability to stop the gun violence," Thompson told the court, while urging Khawly to impose a sentence of eight to 10 years on the gun charges alone. 

Det.  Const.  Corrado Rabbito said in an interview outside court that Tuck charged between $600 and $5,000 for the weapons he sold, with the Glocks commanding the top price. 

Among the guns Tuck offered to sell to undercover officers were a pump-action shotgun, two .40-calibre Glock handguns and a .32-calibre revolver. 

Rabbito said the guns and ammunition came from break and enters all over the province, although a couple of guns had been "imported."

The federal prosecutor called for an additional six years on the six drug charges, noting that it is unusual for an individual to move such a variety of drugs.  The fact that he was also dealing guns made him a serious threat to society, he said. 

The prosecutors said they would settle for a sentence of 12 years. 

During the investigation, undercover officers also seized 2,700 ecstasy pills, about a quarter-kilo of cocaine, an ounce of heroin and 314 grams of marijuana. 

Tuck was arrested on the gun and drug charges in December 2003, along with other alleged gang members.  Almost 150 charges were laid by police in that operation, with almost one-third of them directed at Tuck. 

At the time, he had been on bail for a second-degree murder charge in the February 2001, stabbing death of Salim Jabaji at The Docks nightclub. 

He was acquitted in October after testifying that he had defended himself after being attacked by Jabaji. 

At yesterday's hearing, Tuck seemed almost bookish, neatly dressed in a green shirt and dress pants. 

When asked to enter a plea to the charges, he said in a calm, clear voice: "Guilty, your Honour."

After hearing the Crown's arguments, the judge questioned why the defence and the prosecution had not submitted an agreed statement of facts, which is customary when a person pleads guilty to a crime. 

Khawly gave the lawyers until Thursday to clearly outline the 29 charges Tuck admitted to in court yesterday. 

Tuck's lawyer, Christopher Hicks, will make his submissions on sentencing when the court hearing resumes on that day. 

Statistics show that of weapons that end up in the hands of criminals, there is almost an even split between the number of guns smuggled into Canada and those stolen from legitimate Canadian gun owners. 

Between 2,000 and 3,000 firearms are stolen or reported missing in Canada each year and many of those end up being used by criminals in robberies and murders, police say. 

While there are few recent statistics on gun storage, a survey of 504 Quebec gun owners in 1994 found that 35 per cent of them had failed to comply with at least one of the three criteria for safe storage. 

A cross-Canada survey of 282 gun owners conducted by Angus Reid in 1999 put the figure of unsafe storage at 17 per cent. 

In 2005, which has become known as the "Year of the Gun" in Toronto, 52 of the 78 homicides were shooting deaths -- an all-time high. 

That compares to 24 gun-related deaths in 2004.