Victim of 2016 Winnipeg firebombing found guilty of operating drug ring

A man badly burned when a Molotov cocktail was thrown into his home was convictedin a Manitoba court Fridayof drug trafficking.

Justin Kirstein was found guilty of seven drug and firearm offences for operating amid-level cocaine trafficking operation in his home,which police discovered after a firebomb sailed into his bedroom on July 16, 2016.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Robert Dewar ruled it was unimaginablethat Kirstein would not know about the cocaine,drug paraphernalia and weaponsfound inhis Young Street home andhis backyard.

"The little bits of aluminum foil, the scales, were all in full view in the living room," Dewarsaid.

"It was inconceivable to me that Mr. Kirstein was oblivious to the existence of drugs and drug paraphernalia."

During the course of hisnine-day trial, court heard that early in the morning of July 16,asKirsteinwas asleep, a brick sailed through his bedroom window, followed by a Molotov cocktail.

He woke up covered in flames and sustained serious burns to his arms and legs.

Police officers and fire investigators who respondedfoundillicit drug merchandise in thescorched home, as well as $17,000 kept in a briefcase underneath his bedand firearmsstashed in a bush in the backyard, they told the court.

Youth tried to hidethe evidence: Crown

Prosecutors called two witnesseswho said theyworked as drug dealersout of Kirstein's homethe night of the ambush.

The witnesses, who were youths at the time of the offence, said they pulled firearms out of the burning home,under Kirstein'sorders,but could not retrieve a suitcase of money.

In his defence, Kirstein's girlfriend, Shania Thompson, testifiedthe drugs and related merchandise belonged to one of her acquaintances, who dropped them off at the home she shared with Kirstein.

Kirstein, who represented himself in the trial, presented a bag of cocaine with thefingerprint of the acquaintance as corroborating evidence.

Dewar didn't buy that argument. He said the fingerprint only demonstratedthat Kirsteindid not act alone in the drug trade.

The justice added it became clearthe firearms belonged to Kirstein when a police officer mentioned the guns and Kirstein animatedly opposed any search of his property.

He found Kirstein guilty of drug trafficking andillegally possessing proceeds from crime,a rifle without a licence,an illegal sawed-off shotgun and a live shotgun shell.

He was also convicted of three counts of possessing a firearm while prohibited.

Proceeds from crime

The suitcase, he added,likely containedproceeds from trafficking.

"Mr. Kirstein, clearly, after the fire, was agitated about retrieving his briefcase full of money," he said. "One has to question why someonewould have almost $17,000 in cash under their bed rather than the bank."

Two malesoriginally accused ofarsonin connection with the firebombing were acquitted at a trial earlier this year. A publication ban was enforced so they can no longer be identified.

At that trial, Kirsteinsaidhe was a former member of a B-Side street gang. He believed theattack was a form of retaliation from members of the Mad Cowz gang because thetwo-storey home he moved into on Young Street, near Sargent Avenue,was on their turf.

Kirstein, a woman and two teenage boys were all treated and eventually released from hospital after the fire, which caused an estimated $105,000 worth of damage.

He will be sentenced at a later date.

With files from Bryce Hoye