A 59-nine-year-old Scarborough man took responsibility for playing a key role in the importation of illegal firearms from the United States into Canada — for distribution on Toronto streets — by pleading guilty Wednesday to weapons smuggling and trafficking.
The discovery of 60 handguns buried in bedding in the trunk of Harris Poyser’s rented vehicle on May 23, 2018, outside a home in Cornwall, on the U.S. border in eastern Ontario, was billed as the largest single seizure of illegal firearms in the history of the Toronto Police Service.
Wearing a white-collared, blue button-down shirt and black jeans, Poyser’s voice was barely audible in the empty courtroom as he answered “yes” to Justice John McMahon’s questions meant to ensure an accused person’s plea has not been coerced.
McMahon said he was satisfied Poyser had made the decision to enter a guilty plea in consultation with his lawyer Michael Quigley rather than stand trial next month. Poyser pleaded guilty to six charges, including instructing the commission of an offence for the benefit of a criminal organization, importing firearms and possession of firearms for the purpose of trafficking.
The judge told Poyser he faces a prison sentence of between 10 and 15 years. A sentencing hearing is set for May 7, two weeks before Poyser’s 60th birthday. He remains in custody.
On Wednesday, the prosecution read a synopsis of the crimes committed by Poyser and his alleged accomplices.
During the spring of 2018, Poyser was working in association with Ernest Wilson, a man known as “Biggs” who was living in Florida. Poyser, Wilson, Kareem Lewis — a co-accused who has since died — and a man known as “Apache” worked together to bring illegal firearms north and other contraband south across the Canada-United States border for illegal sale in both countries, court heard.
Wilson — who is also now dead — would buy handguns from various dealers in Florida and have them shipped north to the border near Cornwall. Apache would arrange for the handguns and other contraband Wilson was sending north to cross the border and be delivered to a house at 515 Oliver Lane in Cornwall.
Poyser, or someone instructed and supervised by Poyser, would pick up the handguns and other contraband for transport to Toronto, where it would be sold on the black market, Crown attorney Sam Scratch said, reading from an agreed statement of facts. Poyser would also arrange for Canadian contraband to be exported illegally to the U.S. using Apache and Wilson’s network, Scratch said. (He did not elaborate on the other contraband, nor which border crossing was used.)
Poyser’s collaboration with his associates made up a criminal organization, which made his crimes more serious and subject to a stiffer penalty.
The Crown’s synopsis included summaries of several transactions in the illegal import-export scheme, which was active in April and May 2018.
The smugglers were caught on wiretaps using the code name “Irish” for handguns.
On May 7, Poyser instructed two associates to travel to Cornwall to pick up handguns that Wilson had sent north and Apache had shepherded across the border. Poyser was intercepted discussing with Wilson how to divide the handguns and, on this occasion, Poyser’s two associates — one of them Lewis — picked up a shipment of 29 handguns and delivered them to Poyser’s house in Scarborough. There, they divided the guns for each to sell in Toronto.
On average, Wilson was receiving $2,500 per gun. Poyser’s two associates were seeking prices in the range of $4,000. In all, the trio made a profit of $1,500 per illegal gun sold, Scratch told court.
On the day of his May 23, 2018, arrest, Poyser and Lewis drove separately from Toronto to the Oliver Lane house in Cornwall.
There, an unidentified man loaded two large bags containing bedding and 60 handguns into the trunk of Poyser’s rented car. This entire exchange was captured on video by a police surveillance plane equipped with a long-range camera that followed Poyser. Wilson had indicated there was also to be another shipment of 40 guns.
A Toronto police surveillance team followed Poyser as he headed to Highway 401 toward Toronto. But before he reached the ramp, officers boxed his vehicle in and arrested him. They found 60 handguns and 108 magazines, 54 of them high-capacity and, therefore, themselves prohibited devices.
Poyser was not licensed to possess a firearm at the time and had never registered a firearm. Lewis was also picked up by police after Poyser’s arrest. He died awaiting trial.
Toronto police have long warned of the flow of illegal firearms over the Canada-U.S. border.
Last month, police released statistics saying 82 per cent of the traceable handguns they seized in 2019 originated in the U.S., with the remainder coming from Canada. However, of the 453 handguns Toronto police seized, nearly a quarter — 107 — were not traced, according to the data.
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