Sask. farmer acquitted in death of Indigenous man pleads guilty to gun charge

NORTH BATTLEFORD, Sask. -- A Saskatchewan farmer acquitted in the fatal shooting of a young Indigenous man is giving up his guns and has been ordered to pay a $3,000 fine after pleading guilty to unsafe storage of an unrestricted firearm.

Gerald Stanley pleaded guilty Monday in North Battleford provincial court to the charge that involved six rifles and shotguns. The Crown said none of them had trigger locks.

The Crown dropped a second count of unsafe storage of a restricted handgun.

Stanley was acquitted in the death of 22-year-old Colten Boushie, who was shot and killed on Stanley's farm in August 2016.

Boushie was one of five young people who drove onto Stanley's farm near Biggar in 2016. His friends testified they were looking for help with a flat tire.

Stanley told the trial he thought they were trying to steal an all-terrain vehicle. He testified he fired warning shots to scare them away and the gun accidentally went off again when he went to pull the keys from their SUV.

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  Gerald Stanley enters the Court of Queen's Bench as the jury is in deliberation in his trial, the farmer is accused of killing Colten Boushie, a 22-year-old Indigenous man, in Battleford, Sask., Friday, February 9, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards