PUBLICATION:
WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
DATE
:
SAT DEC.13,2003
PAGE
:
B1
CLASS
:
City
BYLINE:
Mike McIntyre
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HUGE
GUN BUST A DUD
Weapons
returned to owner after seized arsenal proves legal
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The
RCMP have been forced to return 152 firearms seized from a Winnipeg man after
what they touted as the largest weapons bust in Manitoba history developed major
flaws, the Free Press has learned. Manitoba Justice recently dropped 28 criminal
charges against Adam Morash, an avid gun collector who works at the provincial
Legislative Building as a security guard.
Crown
attorney Brian Bell said further police investigation revealed the weapons were
properly registered and stored.
Morash,
32, did plead guilty to two minor related charges but was given a discharge,
which allows him to maintain a clean criminal record and return to his job,
where he was been suspended since his February arrest.
Morash
is also a part-time private investigator, but had his licence suspended with the
criminal allegations over his head. The licence has since been reinstated.
He
has also been forced to sell his Winnipeg home, which housed an elaborate
security system and weapons storage facility resembling something right out of a
James Bond movie or military base.
Morash
-- who spent 2000 and 2001 working in the Czech Republic as a bodyguard to a
high-profile businessman and his family -- fears the publicity from his arrest
will make his home a target for thieves and "enemies," according to
friends.
RCMP
made headlines in February when they arrested Morash and two other men following
a six-month undercover investigation.
Police
seized a total of 87 rifles, 32 shotguns, 78 handguns and 58 gun parts, plus
thousands of rounds of ammunition, which they proudly showed to the public
during a packed news conference.
More
than half the weapons were found inside Morash's home in St. Boniface inside a
secured compound which stunned -- and surprised -- police investigators.
A
large vault was hidden behind a false wall in the basement. The "secret
room" was controlled by an electrical panel separate from the home alarm
system, said defence lawyer Hymie Weinstein.
There
were several other locks and levers that needed to be activated.
"The
RCMP had no idea where this room was," Weinstein told court, adding they
passed by it several times without noticing.
Dean
Dunlop, who works with the Department of National Defence, submitted a letter to
court on Morash's behalf, calling his security system
"second-to-none."
"It
was more thorough and secure than many military weapon storage facilities,"
Dunlop wrote.
Several
other people offered their support to Morash, including a retired RCMP officer
who supervises provincial security guards.
Morash,
who has been a special constable since 1997, was called a "very good
example for young security officers" and "very responsible" by
his boss.
He
has also helped train cadets in Manitoba in the areas of math, compass and
camping skills, court was told.
"I
apologize for any embarrassment this may have caused my department and my
position as a peace officer in Manitoba and with my international work,"
Morash told court.
The
two charges Morash pleaded guilty to involve an unregistered handgun police
found inside a china cabinet in his home. The gun was unloaded, and Morash was
fixing it for a friend, court was told.
The
other charge involves a small amount of improperly modified ammunition.
Besides
Morash's home, police also raided an apartment at St. Anthony Avenue and Main
Street, a farm southeast of Steinbach and a house in the 400 block of Hospital
Street in Steinbach.
The
two other men arrested the same day as Morash remain before the court on less
serious charges. Although police believe the men knew each other, they are being
tried separately and not as co-accused.
James
Anthony Rush, 29, has been charged with one count each of possession of a
prohibited weapon, weapon trafficking and possession of a weapon for the purpose
of trafficking.
Bradley
Jonathon Giesbrecht, 34, has been charged with one count each of possession of a
prohibited device and careless storage of a firearm.