A 40-year-old man from Hope once dubbed “the Dr. Frankenstein of guns” who was out on parole for trafficking in handgun parts is back in jail for allegedly doing it again, according to the province’s anti-gang task force.
Bradley Michael Friesen was already on a lifetime prohibition for firearms, restricted firearms, prohibited weapons, prohibited devices and prohibited ammunition from a 2001 conviction when he was sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2014.
Those charges stemmed from a Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C. (CFSEU-BC) investigation that began in May 2014 when the United States ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobaco, Firearms and Explosives) approved CFSEU-BC requesting assistance in an investigation on Friesen.
He was suspected of selling Glock auto sears and switches, gun parts that convert Glock pistols to fully automatic and silencers via the internet.
He served five years of a 10-year sentence and was released on parole that was set to expire in 2023.
Dubbed “the Dr. Frankenstein of guns” at one point, Friesen was in the news a year ago when he successfully sued over a traffic accident that took place before he was imprisoned on the firearms charges. In a lawsuit launched from prison, he sued a driver who collided with him in 2011 in Langley and was awarded $88,000 in damages.
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Then in October of this year, Canada Border Services Agency intercepted and seized three separate packages containing prohibited devices. The intended recipient was Friesen.
On Nov. 14, the CFSEU-BC, assisted by CBSA and Hope RCMP, arrested Friesen on a number of firearms-related offences and conducted a search warrant of his residence in Hope.
He was held in custody and transported to a correctional institution upon the suspension of his parole. The investigation continues and currently no new Criminal Code of Canada charges have been laid at this time.
“Bradley Friesen is a well-known offender who is alleged to have showed a complete disregard for the safety of the public, and a complete disregard for the conditions placed on him upon his release into the public”, said CFSEU-BC spokesperson Sgt. Brenda Winpenny. “The ability of the CFSEU-BC to successfully work with our many provincial partners has taken potentially lethal items off the street and put a dangerous offender back behind bars.”
– with a file from Matthew Claxton, Langley Times
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