CITY Magistrate Judy Latchman on Wednesday handed down a 60-month term of imprisonment to former Special Constable Jermaine Bristol, after he was found guilty on a charge of conspiracy to traffic cocaine which was intercepted in rum bottles at the JFK International Airport in New York.Bristol, 31, of Lot 2034 Stevedore Housing Scheme Georgetown, was employed at the Special Constabulary and was assigned to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri.

Magistrate Latchman, after considering the case of Police Prosecutor Vishnu Hunt and the arguments by Defence Counsel Adrian Thompson, found the defendant guilty, sentenced him to jail, and fined him $30,000.

In delivering her ruling, Magistrate Latchman told the court that from the evidence led by Prosecutor Bharat Mangru, she believed that Bristol was part of a plan to traffic cocaine at the airport. Bristol, she noted, was placed in a position of trust and to protect citizens, but he “protected cocaine and served himself money.”

Before handing down her ruling, the magistrate considered all mitigating factors, as well as the need to dissuade others from contemplating committing a similar illegal act.

According to earlier reports, Bristol was, on November 17, 2014, paid to pass an American citizen who was an outgoing passenger destined for the John F. Kennedy Airport and who was carrying a quantity of cocaine concealed in rum. The American citizen was later busted at JFK with the bottles of rum that were laced with cocaine. As a result, investigations were carried out at the CJIA, and from CCTV footage, Bristol was seen operating outside of normal functions.

He was later questioned by police, and admitted that he was paid to let the cocaine-laced rum pass.