By Tahna Weston
A Liberta resident who pleaded guilty in January this year to possession of over five kilograms of cannabis has been jailed.
However, Uroy Joseph is already on remand at His Majesty’s Prison for a murder charge.
High Court Judge Justice Ann-Marie Smith sentenced him to 13 months after taking several factors into account, including his guilty plea and the fact that he has no previous convictions.
Joseph, 40, was taken into custody after the police executed a search warrant at his Liberta home about 4 am on October 7, 2021.
The police were conducting an investigation into another serious matter and while searching the home, they found a quantity of cannabis on the floor in a northern bedroom. Further searches unveiled another quantity of the class B drugs in the front room. The police found a total 7.64 kilograms of cannabis in the house.
Joseph, along with others who were in the house at the time, was taken into custody and he, along with another man, was later arrested and charged.
The maximum penalty for this offence is seven years in prison or a fine not less than $5,000 or no more than $200,000.
Joseph, who spent nine days on remand, was also charged with drug trafficking which the prosecution withdrew in January after he pleaded guilty to the lesser count.
Attorney Wendel Alexander, who represented Joseph pro bono, told the court that his client would have pleaded guilty to the charge earlier except he was under the impression that since another man had taken responsibility for the drugs he was out of the equation.
Alexander, however, explained that in drug cases, possession and control are important factors-and if someone owns a house in which drugs are found he cannot say that he does not know anything about it.
“I want the court to take into account he pleaded guilty only after he had proper counselling. He has no previous convictions and he is of good character up to this point. He avoided a trial,” Alexander said.
He also reminded the court that Antigua and Barbuda has a market for medicinal marijuana and that Joseph comes from Liberta where there is one of the largest marijuana farms on the island.
Alexander asked that the court temper justice with mercy.
“The best of us can make mistakes. He [Joseph] had a lot of friends over by him at the time and the police were investigating another serious offence,” Alexander, who reminded the court that another man who was charged in relation to the drug find received two years and six months, said.
About The Author
