A former accomplice of ex-hitman Frédérick Silva, who allegedly made silencers and weapons, and in whom the police found evidence all over the house, was sentenced to seven years in prison on Monday to Montreal.
In practice, however, this sentence has no direct impact on Giovanni Presta, since it is concurrent with a life sentence, without eligibility for parole for 25 years, which he has been serving since December, after being convicted of the murder of Sébastien Beauchamp, committed in 2018.
The day Frédérick Silva was arrested, after two years on the run, in February 2019, investigators from the Organized Crime Division of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) searched Presta’s home in Terrebonne.
They found firearm frames, magazines, stocks, barrels, machined silencers, a 3D printer, documents used in the manufacture of firearms and silencers, prohibited weapons and ammunition, all this scattered around the house.
They discovered this arsenal in pieces or not under a cushion on the wooden bench of the back terrace, on the refrigerator and in a cupboard near the stove in the kitchen, and all over the office, the storage room , storage room and basement bathroom.
In this last room, in a hole in the wall hidden by a medicine cabinet that had been unscrewed and fixed many times, the police notably got their hands on five functional pistols, some of which were loaded, a semi-automatic weapon whose serial number had been erased, magazines, a silencer, a gun and ammunition.
An arsenal behind a wardrobe
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PHOTO FILED IN COURT
While searching the house, investigators noticed that the medicine cabinet in the bathroom was not securely attached to the wall. They discovered this by unscrewing it.
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PHOTO FILED IN COURT
These firearms were laid out like this when the police discovered the opening in the bathroom wall.
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PHOTO FILED IN COURT
The semi-automatic weapon found in the wall
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PHOTO FILED IN COURT
A pistol with a silencer discovered in the same hiding place
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PHOTO FILED IN COURT
Giovanni Presta admitted to making silencers.
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The sleuths also discovered several hunting weapons in a locker in the basement, but these were all legal.
A brass knuckles was also found in a ceiling.
Averted trial
Presta was facing eight counts, but he admitted the facts (nolo contendere) for two of them: possession of prohibited or restricted firearms without a licence, and manufacture of prohibited firearms and devices.
PHOTO THE PRESS
John Presta
Presta did not plead guilty to retain his right of appeal in the case of the murder of Sébastien Beauchamp.
The other counts he faced were dropped, as were those filed against his spouse.
The prosecution, represented by Mr.e Nathalie Kléber, and the defence, provided by Me Dominique Shoofey, argued that this common suggestion makes it possible in particular to avoid holding a trial during which 20 witnesses would have been heard and around fifty exhibits filed.
To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.