Man caught with gun from Surrey burglary gets 3 years
Published 3:30 pm Friday, September 4, 2026
A 44-year-old man has been sentenced to three years in prison after police caught him with a restricted pistol that had been stolen during a Surrey burglary.
Police seized a .22-calibre long rifle High Standard M-101 Duramatic pistol with six rounds of ammo from Jamie Dale Patrick Miller during a traffic stop on Jan. 22, 2024 in Vancouver’s downtown east side after two officers spotted him narrowly missing pedestrians while riding an electric scooter on a sidewalk.
“The police officers stopped him for a bylaw infraction as they had a concern that he would strike and injure a pedestrian as he continued to ride at a high rate of speed on the sidewalk,” provincial court Judge Robin McQuillan noted in his reasons for sentence.
Miller pleaded guilty to possessing a loaded, prohibited, or restricted firearm without holding a licence, and possessing a loaded firearm while he was prohibited from doing so by an order, contrary to Section 117.01 of the Criminal Code.
The police found he had outstanding warrants as they were arresting him, the court heard, Miller turned to one of the officers and said he had a loaded gun.
“Officers then immediately took control of him and placed him in handcuffs,” the judge said. The gun was in a shoulder holster under Miller’s left arm, concealed by a hoodie and jacket.
“As the officer was removing the handgun from his person, Mr. Miller spontaneously stated that he was carrying the firearm for his safety because of the gangs in the area,” McQuillan said. They also seized a cellphone, $2,257.50 in cash and a pill bottle containing 55 Dilaudid pills (a narcotic pain reliever).
Miller has a lengthy criminal record involving property offences, fleeing from police, court breaches, aggravated assault and breaking-and-entering. In 2019 he was sentenced to four years for kidnapping and other crimes, including unauthorized use of a firearm.
He has prior convictions for possessing a firearm, unauthorized use of a firearm, and two for possessing a firearm contrary to an order. In 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2019 he was subject to weapons prohibitions.
McQuillan sentenced him to two years for possessing a restricted loaded firearm and a year for breaching the prohibition order, to be served consecutively.
“Mr. Miller is entitled to credit for pre-sentence custody. I am advised that he spent four months in custody before his release. As such he shall have credit at time and a half for six months of credit. Thus, there are 30 months left to serve,” the judge concluded.