A Winnipeg woman sobbed in court as she admitted she helped her son manufacture and traffic 3D-printed firearms while he was behind bars serving a double-digit prison sentence.

Twyla Ellison, 45, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count each of manufacturing and trafficking in firearms. She will be back in court on February 21 when Crown and defense lawyers will jointly recommend that she be sentenced to three years in prison, the minimum mandatory sentence for her crimes.

“Do you understand that on February 21 you will go to prison?” Provincial Court Judge Kelly Moar asked Ellison.

“Yes,” Ellison said through tears as a supporter gently rubbed her back.

Ellison’s son, Blake Ellison-Crate, pleaded guilty last year to manufacturing and trafficking so-called ghost guns on the city’s black market and was sentenced to 12 years in prison, considered at the time Canada’s longest sentence for gun crimes involving a 3D printer.

One of the firearms involved was used in the shooting of two boys at the Red River Ex in 2022. Another was found in the home of two men later convicted of second-degree murder in the April 2022 slaying of St. Norbert, Brandon Richard.

Analysis of Ellison-Crate’s electronics around the same time revealed that he recruited people through Kijiji to 3D print handgun receivers for him. Ellison-Crate gave the recruits the files he wanted printed under the pretense that they were video game controllers. He has sourced other parts from individuals and companies in Manitoba and outside the province.

Videos found on his cell phone showed him working and collecting weapons in the bathroom.

Months after Ellison-Crate was convicted, he conspired with another outsider, Michael Rivers, to continue manufacturing illegal firearms.

Ellison-Crate used a secret cellphone to order gun parts online and sent them to his girlfriend’s home.

Rivers would then allegedly pick up the pieces, with Ellison-Crate giving him instructions on how to assemble them into complete weapons using a 3D printer. Ellison-Crate then arranged for the firearms to be sold through his prison network.

According to a joint statement of facts filed in court Tuesday, Ellison-Crate enlisted his mother’s help in raising advance funds for the manufacture of the guns, coordinating their transfer to buyers and other hands-on activities.

“While the accused was initially unaware that the financial assistance she provided to Ellison-Crate and Rivers was being used to support criminal activities, she subsequently became fully aware of the firearms manufacturing and trafficking scheme and became directly involved in this approach”, Crown. attorney Ari Millo told the court, reading from the agreed statement of facts.

Between November and December 2023, Ellison “communicated directly via text messages and phone calls with Ellison-Crate … for the purpose of arranging their finances and providing instructions to Rivers and other co-conspirators,” Millo said.

On three occasions in November 2023, Ellison deposited a total of $8,400 into Ellison-Crate’s bank account for the purchase of firearms components.

Police executed a search warrant at Ellison’s Elmwood home in March and seized a computer that contained files for 3D models of firearm components and 3D printer cutting software.

Ellison-Crate pleaded guilty in July to one count each of manufacturing and trafficking firearms while in prison and was sentenced to an additional 10 years in prison.

Ellison remains free on bond.

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Dean Pritchard
Court reporter

Dean Pritchard is a court reporter for Free press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining Free press in 2019. Read more about Dean.

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