It’s possible a teen charged in relation to the attempted robbery of an undercover drug cop was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, a judge heard Thursday.

The teen pleaded guilty in B.C. Supreme Court to possession of cocaine and possession of a firearm. He was charged with robbery along with three others in September 2009 after an RCMP undercover officer arrived at a rural location expecting to buy drugs.

Instead, the Mountie was confronted by a shotgun-wielding Garret Getz, who told him he would be killed if he didn’t hand over the $7,000 the robber believed he carried.

The officer’s support team quickly brought the dramatic incident to an end.

The teen, who can’t be named because he was a young offender at the time, was sitting in the back seat of the car, but did not take part in the robbery.

Kristy Poulsen, 18, was driving the car. She too is charged with robbery, as is Alister Wright, who allegedly arranged the deal to sell the drugs in the first place.

Both Poulsen and Wright face the possibility of five years in jail, the minimum sentence for robbery with a firearm. Getz was sentenced to five years in jail last month.

Justice Hope Hyslop was told the teen was denied bail and has been in custody since his arrest.

Lawyer Jeremy Jensen said no evidence showed his client had any idea what was going to happen that day. The Crown also told the court it’s possible the teen did nothing more than be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Jensen noted the firearm charge to which the teen pleaded guilty was related to a different incident — not this robbery attempt.

The teen admitted he fired a shotgun with friends in the bush two weeks before. It’s not known if that gun was the same one eventually used to in the robbery. The teen, however, was prohibited from possessing firearms because of an earlier conviction for having brass knuckles.

Justice Hyslop released the teen on time served, noting his six months in custody equals the legal equivalent of one year in jail.

Poulsen and Wright remain free on bail. Both face court dates later this year.

At Getz’s sentence hearing, the court was told the undercover officer thought he was going to “die in the dirt” that day. The incident has had lasting impact on the officer, said the prosecutor, who described the incident as every officer’s worst nightmare.