A MAN was on Tuesday sentenced to three years in prison and fined $744,000 for possession of cannabis.
Magistrate Rhondell Weever, presiding at the Fort Wellington Magistrate’s Court, inflicted the penalties on Lennox Williams,23,of Lot 44 Stanleytown, New Amsterdam after finding him guilty of committing the offence at Bath Settlement Public Road,West Coast Berbice,on November 16, 2016 last.
Evidence led by Police Prosecutor,Corporal Racquel Mars,revealed that Williams was a passenger in a hire car heading to Georgetown around 12:00hrs on the day of the alleged offence when the vehicle was stopped and searched by Police acting on a tip off. The vehicle had five occupants: two men and two women passengers along with the driver. The narcotics amounting to 496 grams was found in a blue, black and white haversack on the floor of the car behind the front passenger’s seat,between Williams’s legs. Williams had denied being the owner of the haversack.
But the other occupants of the vehicle who gave evidence stated that he had been holding the bag on his lap all along the way from New Amsterdam where he had joined the vehicle, but had dropped it on the floor of the car on seeing the Police flagging the vehicle to stop. After he was found guilty, his Lawyer,Mr Charandass Persaud,informed the Court that Williams had indeed been a member of the Guyana Defence Force at the time of the offense. The Lawyer said that the man had had no prior brushes with the law and begged the Court to be merciful. The Magistrate,however,noted that as a member of the disciplined forces, Williams should have known better than to become involved in possession of the illegal substance.