By Latrishka Thomas
A 30-year-old man was slapped with a $29,500 fine yesterday after he admitted to possessing a number of items illegally.
Jamaul Jacobs pleaded guilty to the possession of a firearm and eight matching rounds of ammunition without having a licence, as well as 28 grams of cannabis and a black jacket marked ‘POLICE’ which was suspected to have been obtained illegally.
The items were found in the defendant’s Tindall Road home on June 8 after the police received a tip and moved quickly to obtain a search warrant for the defendant’s home.
They got to the residence in the early hours of the morning, knocked several times and shouted ‘police’ to no avail.
The cops then heard what appeared to be someone running and therefore used force to enter the house.
Upon entry they found the defendant who was seen tossing an object out of a window and onto the sidewalk.
When the officers searched the area, they found a silver 9mm Beretta pistol on a pile of garbage.
A further search of the man’s home led to the discovery of two transparent bags of marijuana and a black jacket marked ‘POLICE’.
Cash amounting to EC$345 and US$60 was also found.
The defendant’s lawyer, George Lake, told the court that his client was being threatened and had made reports to the police but took the matter into his own hands by obtaining a gun to protect himself.
However, Chief Magistrate Joanne Walsh fined the father of three $500 for having the police uniform and gave him a default prison time of one month if he doesn’t pay the rest of the fine by a certain date.
He owes the state $1,000 for the drugs worth $280 or he could spend six months behind bars.
He was fined a further $8,000 for the bullets or he could serve one year in prison.
Jacobs also has to find $20,000 to satisfy the firearm conviction or serve 18 months.
All of the monies are expected to be paid by December 29 this year.
