FORTY-NINE-YEAR-OLD Dexter Pross, of Germania, East Bank Berbice, appeared before Georgetown Magistrate Ann Mc Lennan, yesterday, on four charges.

He pleaded not guilty to two of them, which alleged that, on Wednesday, June 26, on Carmichael Street, in the city, he had possession of two and a half grammes of cocaine and a utensil used in connection with smoking it.
But he pleaded guilty to the others, which said, the same day, also in Carmichael Street, he had 15 and a half grammes of cannabis sativa (marijuana) for the purpose of trafficking and resisted arrest by a peace officer.
Police Corporal Bharat Mangru, prosecuting, told the Court the defendant had been observed, by constable Benjamin, a policeman acting in the execution of his duty, behaving in a suspicious manner with his fist clenched. A search was conducted on him and the prohibited substances were found in his hand and pockets.
According to Prosecutor Mangru, after being informed about the allegations, he behaved in a disorderly manner and pushed the officer.
Pross, in his defence, said he fetches old iron for a living and he was with his employer to sell some when he purchased $100 worth of the narcotic for his sickness, as he suffers with asthma and boils the substance in water and drinks it.
He claimed the policeman pulled him off his bicycle and they had a scuffle which caused him some injuries to a knee.
The defendant said the corporal at the station refused to keep him because of his condition and was sent to a hospital but the accompanying rank declined to collect the medical certificate.
The prosecutor objected to bail for Pross on the grounds of the prevalence of the offence and, because the latter lives out of Georgetown, he may not return for his trial. He said the defendant gave his address as Lot 16 Pineapple Street, Wismar, Linden.
In relation to the marijuana, Pross was sentenced to three years imprisonment and fined $10,000 fine and, on the resisting arrest conviction, ordered to pay a $15,000 fine with the alternative of five weeks in jail.
Trial on the trafficking in cocaine and possession of smoking utensil charges was postponed to July 30.