Lee was fined $1,500 for the offence and sentenced to a month in jail for carrying a concealed weapon.

There was insufficient evidence to find Lee guilty on a third charge -- careless storage of a firearm, Schuler ruled.

She said she believed Lee made an inquiry about obtaining a business licence for his Five Aces Social Club at the Gold Range Hotel in 1989. He was told he didn't need one so he assumed the operation was legal, she concluded.

Beyond that, she said she "didn't find (Lee) to be a particularly credible witness," adding that his testimony was contrived, contradictory and self-serving.

Because Lee has already served several months awaiting trial and remains in jail pending a second trial on sex and pornography charges in June, however, the sentences mean little.

Lee claimed to have lost $11,000 over the first five months of 1997 by playing, yet he also said he used poker winnings to pay the $1,300 monthly rent for the Gold Range rooms.

An admitted "lousy" player, Lee said he only seemed to get lucky when he was worried about paying his rent.

His social club application indicated that wealthy businessmen and prominent individuals were often involved, yet he downplayed that in his testimony.

Lee had a gun in a pouch around his waist the night of the RCMP raid because he said he was considering a trip to the firing range. Schuler didn't believe him.

During his testimony, Lee said his collection of firearms would make "bad guys" respect him. Although he told his lawyer he feared being robbed and had the guns for "safety and security," he later told Crown prosecutor Mark Scrivens that he never had any intention of using the guns for protection.

"I like James Bond, but I'm better than James Bond because he kills people and I don't," Lee said.

Before sentencing, Lee, in a rising voice, accused police of framing him. He contended that their search warrant was only for the poker room, not his private residence. Insisting that his constitutional rights had been violated, he demanded that all the charges be dismissed.

"The whole case stemmed from the cops' wrongdoing," he maintained.