When he was told that he would be given a three-month suspended sentence, Adrian Alexander Armstrong thought he was going to jail.
A despondent-looking 40-year-old Armstrong of Mason Hall Street, St Michael, stood and lowered his head in the dock of the District A Magistrates Court today after the sentence was handed down to him by Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant.
“Do you know what that means?” the magistrate asked him. “It means that you are not going to prison.”
However, she told him that if he found himself before the courts within the next 12 months, he would serve the three months at Dodds.
The known-offender had pleaded guilty to being in possession of cannabis as well as trafficking and intending to supply the illegal drug on October 30.
His lawyer Dayna Taylor-Lavine successfully asked the court to show the father of three, who is expecting a fourth child, leniency.
She argued that Armstrong’s pregnant girlfriend was completely dependent on him, as both her parents had passed away.
She also pointed to the fact that her client had cooperated with police and had not wasted the court’s time by entering a guilty plea.
Armstrong told the magistrate he had been diagnosed with pneumonia and as a result had lost his job.
He said to earn money he would do odd jobs, sell wrappers, cigarettes and cannabis.
“This drug is illegal and there are consequences to follow if you are caught,” Cuffy-Sargeant told him before handing down her sentence.
He was reprimanded and discharged for the charges of possession and intent to supply.
The court heard from prosecutor Sergeant Samuel Hinds that police were carrying out an operation in Cheapside, the City when they saw Armstrong sitting at a table.
A bag was on the table and when he saw the police he removed it which aroused their suspicion.
He consented to a search and another white bag was also protruding from his pocket. Both bags were found to contain vegetable matter.
The drugs had a weight of 21.72 grams.
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