Officers take witness stand

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This article was published 11/12/2020 (2161 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ten police officers testified about their wide-ranging surveillance of a Brandon man accused of travelling to Edmonton to sell 18 guns in 2018 during the fourth day of the trial of Mathieu Plamondon.

Plamondon pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to commit an indictable offence, possession of restricted and non-restricted firearms for the purpose of trafficking them and trafficking restricted and non-restricted firearms.

In total, he is accused of trafficking 16 restricted and two non-restricted firearms.

The charges are still before the court, and the seven-day trial is ongoing.

The Edmonton Police Service had a significant surveillance operation going to watch Plamondon in the day leading up to his arrest on May 25, 2018, a Brandon provincial courtroom heard. All 10 officers were called to testify by Crown attorneys.

In days two and three of the trial, the court heard how one of Plamondon’s co-accused allegedly stole guns from his father and discussed selling them.

Nicole Harkness, Plamondon’s former partner, said they went to live on a farm in Saskatchewan while the accused was “on the run.” At one point, Harkness said she found hidden guns in one of their suitcases.

After a few weeks, Plamondon’s co-accused and his girlfriend came to pick them up. The plan became to go to Edmonton to sell 18 firearms to a “one-time buyer.”

On May 25, 2018, both Harkness and Plamondon were arrested after Edmonton police found a handgun hidden in a pillowcase in a hotel room they had previously stayed in.

Officers in the Edmonton Police West Division Special Projects Team and Edmonton Drug and Gang Enforcement Unit watched both Plamondon and his associates in the city.

Const. Kelly Campbell testified she tracked Plamondon, a woman and two Middle Eastern men in a McDonald’s restaurant parking lot at approximately 11:30 p.m. on May 24, 2018. While there, Plamondon was showing the men something on his phone.

Under questioning from Crown attorney Adam Gingera, she said she further watched them go into a liquor store approximately an hour later.

Defence lawyer Tara Walker questioned Campbell about how well she could see Plamondon and whether she could actually identify him during the operation.

During the cross-examination, she said she wasn’t close enough to identify any tattoos on the accused and didn’t note any identifying features laid out in information officers received about the accused.

All the officers said they identified Plamondon based on photos provided to them as part of a “target sheet,” which lays out basic information about the person being surveilled.

Const. Krystian Sieruga testified he was also part of the team watching Plamondon on May 25. At approximately 3 p.m., he said he saw an unknown man approach the apartment the accused was staying in and whistle before being let inside.

Sieruga said he was able to identify Plamondon letting the man inside based on the fact that he wasn’t wearing a shirt when he opened the door, something officers had noted earlier in the day.

Walker also questioned Sieruga on how well he could see the accused. He said he based his identification of Plamondon based on the fact that he appeared at the door shirtless as he couldn’t see any tattoos or other features.

The trial is set to continue today, with more police officers taking to the witness stand.

» dmay@brandonsun.com

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