Fake gun sentencing soon

A Penticton man who held up a woman with what appeared to be a real gun will soon learn his sentence.

Anthony Randolph Muskego, who is in his mid-thirties, appeared in Penticton Provincial Court Wednesday.

Lawyers for Muskego and for the Crown asked the judge to allow Muskego to amend his previously-entered guilty plea due to some technicalities about the situation of the offence.

Muskego had, in early March 2023, pointed what appeared to be a gun at a woman who was attempting to retrieve an allegedly stolen bicycle.

Court heard that the gun was not actually operable at the time it was used in that manner. Lawyers argued that Muskego should therefore plead guilty to the criminal code charge of "assault with a weapon" rather than "pointing a firearm," due to legal meanings associated with both charges.

The argument was the weapon in question was not workable as a firearm, but was, in fact, a weapon in the sense that it was used as such towards the victim.

After some brief confusion, Muskego agreed to enter the guilty plea to "assault with a weapon."

Judge Lynett Jung accepted the new plea, and ordered the case be set for sentencing at a later date.

Jung also asked for an update about "how things are going at [Okanagan Correctional Centre], including Muskego's progress on counselling and rehabilitation from drugs, before passing sentence.