There were many reasons why Derick Freeman shouldn't have been spending Boxing Day 2022 in Sault Ste. Marie.
And they all added up to a four-year jail sentence.
The 27-year-old Toronto area man pleaded guilty to 10 charges stemming from his actions on Dec. 26 when he appeared in a Sault courtroom on Thursday.
The offences involved a weapon, breaches of court orders and drugs.
Freeman was convicted of possession of a restricted firearm and ammunition, and possession of these items while prohibited.
He failed to comply with a release order by having the handgun, magazine and a controlled substance.
As well, he was supposed to be in his residence in Mississauga at all times.
Freeman also pleaded guilty to possession of oxycodone and breach of probation.
Ontario Court Justice Romuald Kwolek heard city police were called at 4:15 p.m. about a male who had entered a neighbour's residence on Chapple Avenue.
When the cops arrived, they were told he had left the home but an officer found him there.
He came outside, reached into a backpack and then hid behind a snowbank.
The accused wouldn't show his hands and ran back into the residence, prosecutor Trent Wilson said.
An officer located a loaded 40-calibre Beretta semi-automatic handgun and 11 loads of ammunition in the snow.
Freeman was found with a small number of percocet pills.
At the time, he was on two different firearm prohibitions.
He also was bound by an Oct. 7, 2021 release order from Chapleau with various conditions, including a requirement that he reside in Mississauga with his surety.
"He wasn't supposed to be possessing any firearm much less a loaded handgun," Wilson said. "He was not supposed to be in Sault Ste. Marie. He was not supposed to possess narcotics."
These are very aggravating circumstances, the assistant Crown attorney told Kwolek.
"We don't like it when people from southern Ontario come to town with handguns, running around in a residential area, in people's yards," he said. "No good can come from that."
Freeman's criminal record includes a previous conviction involving a handgun.
The Crown and defence lawyer D'Arcy Leitch jointly recommended the four-year jail term.
His client grew up in the Jane and Finch area of Toronto, a neighbourhood known for its gangs.
He has witnessed someone being shot and has been shot at himself more than once, Leitch told the court. The first time occurred when he was walking home from high school.
Freeman comes from a good family, and had been planning to start a college program in January 2023.
"Despite his record he has educational prospects," Leitch said.
When he imposed the sentence, Kwolek noted the lawyers had indicated there had been triable issues because the officer who found the gun is deceased.
The accused's guilty pleas show remorse, and are mitigating.
But he had a loaded firearm with a magazine in a community where there is trouble with guns and drugs, which "I find most in the cases I see on a day-to-day basis."
Freeman also was on two probation orders and a release order.
"The nature of these offences are seen in this community and around the country," the judge said.
With the 1.5 enhanced credit he received for the time he has spent in custody since his arrest, Freeman faces a further two years less a day behind bars.