Windsor man pleads guilty to 11 charges in relation to gun smuggling investigation

Curtis Elliott, 34, walked out of Superior Court in Windsor, Ont. after pleading guilty to 11 weapons charges on Friday, Oct. 16 2020. (Chris Campbell/CTV Windsor)

Windsor, Ont. — A Windsor man pleaded guilty to 11 charges Friday in connection to a cross-border gun trafficking ring, he was released from custody that afternoon having already served his time in prison.

Curtis Elliott, 34, one of the accused in the Project Kirby investigation from 2015 pleaded guilty to 11 charges in Superior Court Friday including possession of a weapon, transfer of a firearm and theft under $5,000.

Elliott was charged in March 2016 with 30 offences through Project Kirby — a yearlong cross-border multi-law enforcement agency sting operation.

He was one of 10 people charged with more than 100 offences in connection with the project and the last of the accused to have his day in court.

Elliott was in prison since the time of his arrest and was sentenced to eight years in prison Friday afternoon.

When given credit for time and a half for every day incarcerated, Elliot was free to go with probation terms.

He had pleaded ‘not guilty’ in September 2019 but switched his plea Friday, a move his defence lawyer Laura Joy said is “meaningful.”

“Mr. Elliott is going to go on now and lead a productive life,” she said. “He is a young man with a future ahead of him and he’s anxious to get along with life, spend some time with his family and eventually get back to work.”

Assistant Crown Attorney Jennifer Holmes says even though he’s now out on probation, Elliott is a convicted gun trafficker.

Holmes thanked the OPP, Windsor Police and Homeland Security for working diligently in the last five years to keep the community safe.

“I am grateful to them for that and for their unwavering support to the office of the Crown Attorney during this lengthy and complicated prosecution,” she said.

The terms of Elliott’s probation included submitting a DNA sample and a life-time weapons ban.

- With files from CTV Windsor's Chris Campbell