PHILIPSBURG–The Court of First Instance sentenced a 31-year-old man to one month conditional, on two years’ probation, and 100 hours of community service, for attempting to smuggle of 56.1 grams of marijuana into the Pointe Blanche prison on January 6.
Led before the judge on Thursday, Ellio Leonardo Romney was quick to confess to having taken a package with drugs, which was hidden in an armpit, into the prison.
He told the Court he knew it concerned drugs, but did not disclose the names of the person who had given the drugs to him and the prisoner who was to receive the package.
He said the attempted smuggle was an “idiotic thing.” He had to go along with the plan after he had lost his job and could no longer provide for himself and his mother.
The first offender said he was to have received a couple of hundred dollars for his services, adding that he had not received any payment in advance.
The Prosecutor called for 100 hours of community service, or 50 days imprisonment in case of non-compliance, against the suspect who was caught red-handed at the prison’s detection gate.
The Prosecutor said prison management is struggling with the smuggling of drugs, weapons and cell phones into the detention facility. He said the suspect had brought himself into danger in the attempt to smuggle drugs into the prison for a convicted criminal.
Even though it concerned a small quantity in this case, the Prosecutor said that prison inmates need to be “clean” and should not be under the influence of illicit drugs.
Attorney-at-law Marlon Hart said he was pleased with the fact that the Prosecutor did not call for a prison sentence, as his client is in the process of rebuilding his home which was destroyed by Hurricane Irma in September 2017.
The judge told the defendant that “importing” drugs into the prison is a serious offence. In sentencing, the judge took into consideration the suspect’s age and his clean criminal record.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/85242-man-sentenced-for-attempt-to-smuggle-drugs-into-prison
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