She asked the court to reduce the charge to common theft or illegal possession, saying Gabriele had high moral motives although he had committed an illegal act.
There they found his father's old World War II rifle, a common memento here, and charged him with possession of an unlicensed gun as well as financial fraud.
The first thing to note is that in the Common Law jurisdictions (largely, but not exclusively, the English speaking world) possession of such vileness is a strict liability offense.