A Grand Bay man has until December 31, 2023, to pay twenty-three thousand dollars ($23,000.00) or risk going to prison after he pleaded guilty to the charge of trafficking and cultivation of cannabis.
Brief facts on the matter
Connel Angel is a 47-year-old man from the community of Montine Grand Bay on Saturday, August 19, 2023, at about 5 p.m. police officers from the Drugs Squad, Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Special Services Unit (SSU), and the Grand Bay Police went on duty at the home of the defendant armed with a search warrant.
On arrival, he was met and informed of the search warrant to search his premises for unlicensed firearms and ammunition. On entry, the police found a plastic bag containing a quantity of what appeared to be cannabis on the floor in the living room. He was cautioned and made no reply.
The search continued in the house but nothing illegal was found. On the outside, they went to the back of the house on the eastern side and found several fully grown alleged cannabis over three plants. Asked what he knew about it he replied, “I was in Guadeloupe, my brother that plant, I just returned from Guadeloupe, I met it there it’s my place so I just left it.”
During the search, another quantity of alleged cannabis was also found covered with a sheet. He was cautioned and made no reply. At his home, 47 small gardening plants, 7 large gardening pots, 2 seedling trays, and two solar lights among others were seized. All the cannabis was uprooted and placed on police vehicles. Angel was arrested on suspicion of cultivating cannabis and taken to police headquarters.
The uprooted cannabis was weighed in his presence and amounted to 70,370 grams, the black plastic also weighed 1,816 grams, and the white sheet weighed 3,632 grams. Later that day samples of the alleged cannabis were taken and sent to the government analysis for testing and returned positive.
An interview was then conducted with him at police headquarters and asked what he had to say about the cannabis and he replied, “I meet it there, I would cut it, smoke in it, and do whatever with it.”
He was then informed that he was being charged with drug trafficking and cultivation.
When he appeared before Chief Magistrate Candia Carette George, Angol pleaded guilty to both of the charges. He was unrepresented in the matter, but attorney at law Roland Charles who was present told the court that as “a friend of the court” he would make a plea in mitigation on behalf of Angol.
Mitigation
Charles told the court that while the amount of the drugs found far exceeded what was permitted by law, Angol had not wasted the court’s time and had “fully cooperated with the police and was remorseful” for his actions.
He begged of the court “not to impose a custodial sentence on him since sending him to prison would not help. “We beg of the court to temper justice with mercy…impose a fine and please we beg in the imposition of that fine give him some time to pay it,” Charles told the court.
Sentence
On the charge of cultivation of 152 plants of cannabis, he was fined $10,000.00 with $5,000 to be paid by August 31, 2023, and $5,000 to be paid by December 31, 2023 in default he will go to jail, On the charge of trafficking 5,448 grams he was fined $13,000 to be paid by December 31, 2023 in default he will also go to jail.
