A Quebec man has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to charges including hate speech against Jews and the 3D printing of firearms. An RCMP sign is shown in Montreal, March 7, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

MONTREAL - A Quebec man has been sentenced to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges relating to hate speech against Jews and the 3D printing of firearms.

Pascal Tribout, 38, was sentenced Wednesday at the courthouse in St-Jérôme, Que., north of Montreal. He pleaded guilty in December to possession and distribution of data to make 3D-printed firearms, as well as attempting to manufacture a number of prohibited weapons.

Tribout, a resident of St-Joseph-du-Lac, Que., northwest of Montreal, also pleaded guilty to one count of wilful promotion of hatred toward the Jewish community. Quebec court Judge Sylvain Lepine agreed with the five-year sentence recommendation submitted jointly by the Crown and defence. Tribout was arrested by the RCMP in June 2024 and has been detained since, having been denied bail.

Gabriel Lapierre, the federal prosecutor in the case, says Tribout is the first Canadian sentenced to prison under a new provision of the Criminal Code that prohibits the possession and sharing of computer data that can be used to manufacture weapons.

"This is the first in Canada, for this specific section of the code," Lapierre said.

In December 2023, new firearms laws included a definition of a prohibited firearm as “any unlawfully manufactured firearm regardless of the means or method of manufacture," a measure aimed at 3D-printed guns, also known as ghost guns, which are untraceable and don't have serial numbers.

Authorities had been tipped off about Tribout's weapons business in November 2023 by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

In February 2024, municipal police learned that Tribout had been importing and exporting items used in firearms manufacturing. Also that month, police were called to the accused's condo for a burglar alarm, and noticed that the windows were blocked with curtains or sheets and the entire unit was "strewn with debris and tools," including multiple 3D printers.

Tribout told police he was an entrepreneur who made modifications to paintball guns and enjoyed live, in-person military-style simulations conducted by civilians, known as MilSim.

According to the agreed statement of facts presented in court, the RCMP discovered Tribout was posting antisemitic hate speech on a forum on the social networking platform Telegram. "Between March 14, 2024, and April 2, 2024, 66 messages of an antisemitic, racist, anti-government and alarmist nature were attributed to the accused," the statement of facts said.

An undercover officer conversed with him on the site on topics such as anti-government conspiracies, antisemitism, and anti-vaccine discourse before discussion turned to 3D firearms. Tribout's comments to the officer included, "there are Jews to be crushed all around the world," and Jews "should be converted to ashes."

Tribout reportedly told the undercover officer that shooting a 3D gun was the "perfect crime" since "you can melt the gun and there will be no evidence."

Sentencing had been delayed so Tribout could make a statement to the Jewish community, but Wednesday's hearing ended without him speaking.

He was charged with attempting to manufacture prohibited firearms because the FGC-9 weapon seized by police at his home was not functional. Tests carried out by ballistics experts found that the barrel chamber was too narrow for a 9mm Luger cartridge.

In a statement, Henry Topas, B’nai Brith Canada’s regional director for Quebec and Atlantic Canada, said, “This verdict is a welcome sign for all Canadians."

“This case shows that antisemitism is not only a threat to Jews but also can be a matter of national security.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 27, 2025.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2025