An Oliver businessman will not be handed a criminal conviction following the investigation and trial into his company.
Randhir Toor was given a conditional discharge of 18 months for the two charges of owning a firearm without a license. Additional charges were stayed as part of his guilty plea.
As part of the conditions, Toor will have to complete 150 hours of community work within the first year of the order.
His company, Toor Vineyards, was fined $90,000 for immigration fraud last week.
READ MORE: Oliver’s Toor Vineyards fined $90K for involvement in immigration fraud scheme
In his decision, Judge Gregory Koturbash said that Toor would be unfairly impacted by a criminal conviction, which would potentially prevent him from travelling to the United States for business, or back to India where he and his family are from and where he has helped establish a school.
He also noted that the offence was aggravated by the breach of trust that Toor incurred as an auxiliary officer of the RCMP.
A decision on the charges had been initially intended for Feb. 16, but was delayed in order for Koturbash to go over the caselaw provided and to properly articulate his decision.
“Mr. Toor, today is the first day of the rest of your life, and you’ve promised and assured me you are going to take some very positive steps in repaying the community,” said Koturbash. “Continue on with your philanthropy, continue on with your work with the community and rebuild your character.”
Any violation of the terms of the conditional discharge could result in a criminal conviction being applied.
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