Indigenous man caught with ‘killing machine’ of a rifle gets time served due to intergenerational trauma
More than 500 days in harsh pre-trial custody was enough punishment for a Mohawk man caught driving around Peterborough with a crack pipe in his lap and a “killing machine” of a rifle in the back seat, along with a flame thrower in the trunk, according to a recent sentence of time served from Ontario’s Court of Justice.
Jesse Garlow, a convicted drug trafficker who was under a firearms prohibition, had been in custody since June 7, 2024 when he was sentenced. Police initially pulled him over because the car he was driving was weaving.
“I have determined that systemic and background factors have affected the degree of responsibility of this offender. Mr. Garlow is the personification of intergenerational trauma. I cannot imagine more sympathetic circumstances or mitigating factors that cry out for some compassion. Punishing him with a further period of incarceration for the sake of the common good would be unjust,” wrote Justice Brenda Green, who recently handed Garlow a suspended sentence and three years of probation.
The judge described the rifle’s “frightening appearance” in her decision, dated Nov. 4. “This gun is obviously not intended for hunting anything other than human beings. It is designed to maim and/or kill in a spray of bullets. Simply brandishing it would cause sheer terror.”
The prosecutor recommended Garlow get 3.5 years in prison.
“The Crown emphasized that Mr. Garlow was carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle in public in suspicious circumstances along with a flame thrower and crow bars. This firearm was designed for one purpose, as a killing machine. Its possession is antithetical to the norms and values of Canadians,” said the decision. “A strong message must be sent to deter like-minded individuals from carrying a loaded firearm by meting out a significant punishment.”
His defence lawyer advocated for time served, urging the judge to consider Garlow’s “expressed remorse, and his potential for rehabilitation especially with the support of resources for Indigenous people.”
Garlow, in his early 40s, plead guilty to being in possession of a loaded prohibited, modified, firearm “and that his possession of this firearm was in contravention of court orders that prohibited him from possessing such items,” said the decision.
The court heard Garlow had close to $5,000 in cash in his wallet when he was arrested, along with a small scale. Garlow swore the money was from gambling.
During interviews for a Gladue report, Garlow “denied that he was trafficking in narcotics,” said the decision. “He also vehemently denied that he intended to use the gun to commit a crime.”
Gladue principles were set out in a Supreme Court of Canada decision a quarter century back and indicate sentencing judges must consider the unique circumstances of Indigenous offenders, as well as systemic issues like the impact of residential schools, to address the over-representation of Indigenous people in Canada’s prisons.
“To describe Mr. Garlow’s background as tragic would be an understatement,” Green said.
“There is an undeniable link between his criminal record and his experiences as an Indigenous person. In addition, the conditions of his detention at Central East Correctional Centre have been horrendous. He expressed understandable upset during previous appearances about the suffering he has endured while on remand.”
Garlow’s case is “highly unusual,” said the judge.
“The Crown’s cogent submissions accentuated the potential for death and destruction posed by the weapon that was in Mr. Garlow’s possession. She urged the court to find that this gun was possessed for the purpose of committing crimes and was in contravention of an order intended to protect the public.”
His lawyer, in contrast, “highlighted that Mr. Garlow’s personal history is heartbreaking, and how that attenuates his moral responsibility for these crimes.”
The “two positive role models in Jesse’s life, his mother and grandmother, died when he was a boy,” said the judge. “Both his grandfathers were murdered. His father suffered cultural alienation in the residential school system. Jesse was separated from a supportive and welcoming community as a direct result. His father was often absent, emotionally unavailable, abusive and encouraged poor choices. His sister was killed by police while she was suffering a mental health crisis. His nephew died of an overdose. His father is missing.”
The judge saw a “clear, causal nexus between his father’s brutalization in residential schools and the trail of damage and devastation that slammed like a wrecking ball through the next generation. I cannot imagine a case with a more shocking example of the detrimental impact of colonialism, intergenerational trauma and the attempted cultural genocide by seizing children from their communities only to be placed in horribly abusive environments.”
Garlow is Mohawk and a member of Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation.
His “life spiralled out of control after he was abandoned by his dad” after he was expelled from school at the age of 17.
“His criminal record commenced in 2003 when he was 19 years old,” said the decision. “He supported himself by selling drugs. He was in unstable relationships. He began more heavily abusing various drugs.”
He eventually left the “toxic relationship,” got a high school diploma and reconnected with his father, said the decision.
“He did well for the first year, but he wasn’t able to maintain that lifestyle.”
Garlow “began drinking again and spent more time with the ‘wrong crowd’ of people,” said the decision. “He discovered that he could make a lot of money quickly by robbing illegal grow operations.”
Garlow had been in custody 516 days before Green sentenced him.
“Mr. Garlow’s stay at Central East Correctional Centre has been tortuous for him emotionally, psychologically and physically,” said the judge.
Garlow was “subjected to triple bunking for months at a time and frequent lock downs” at the facility, Green said.
“Despite a multitude of decisions, from every level of court in Ontario, decrying this abuse of vulnerable inmates, absolutely nothing has been done to alleviate this unjustifiable treatment of people at the mercy of the state,” said the judge. “It is mind boggling that a country that prides itself on its purported respect for human rights is turning a blind eye to these documented, undeniable and inexcusable cruelties.”
The mitigation of Garlow’s sentence “is not a ‘break’ for him,” Green said.
“A sentence reduction is not a reflection of a judge being ‘soft on crime.’ It is our obligation as the gatekeepers of justice to address, redress and hopefully ameliorate institutionalized abuse.”
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