3-year sentence for man who fled B.C. gang unit during traffic stop, police say

The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C. shared these photos with their news release. (CFSEU)

A 48-year-old man from the B.C. Interior has been sentenced to three years in jail after pleading guilty to illegally possessing a firearm.

Valemount resident Christopher FIllingham was arrested on March 22, 2024, by officers from the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia, the anti-gang unit said in a news release Tuesday.

The CFSEU’s Uniform Gang Enforcement Team saw “an electric motorbike commit multiple traffic violations” and attempted a traffic stop, according to the release.

“The driver failed to stop for police and was arrested a short time later,” the release reads.

Officers searched the driver and seized drugs, cash, a Girsan semi-automatic pistol, six rounds of 9-mm ammunition and a pistol magazine and holster, police said.

After identifying the driver as Fillingham, officers determined he was subject to a court-ordered weapons prohibition at the time of the incident, the CFSEU said.

Charges of unauthorized possession of a loaded restricted firearm and possession of a restricted firearm while prohibited were laid in October 2024, according to police. Fillingham entered a guilty plea on the unauthorized possession charge on Nov. 10 of this year.

In addition to sentencing him to three years behind bars, the B.C. Supreme Court imposed a lifetime firearms ban on Fillingham, as well as a DNA order, police said.

“UGET officers work tirelessly across the province to investigate individuals who pose a risk to public safety through violence, weapons, and illicit drug activity,” said Sgt. Sarbjit K. Sangha, in the release.

“This sentence reflects the seriousness of the offence and the ongoing work underway to disrupt violent criminal behaviour in our communities.”