A man who pleaded guilty to possessing $750,000 worth of cocaine and marijuana told Court of Appeal judges yesterday he should have received a lesser sentence than the mandatory minimum of four years.
Justices Christopher Blackman, Stanley John and Abdulai Conteh agreed with Kendal Hepburn’s grounds for appeal – that his immediate guilty plea should have reduced his sentence in Magistrates Court, notwithstanding the quantity of drugs involved.
Hepburn, who has already served six months of the four-year prison term, had his sentence reduced to three years and six months from the date of his April 26, 2013 conviction.
At his arraignment before then Deputy Chief Magistrate Carolita Bethell, Hepburn pleaded guilty to four drug charges: conspiracy to possess and possession of dangerous drugs (cocaine) with intent to supply, and conspiracy to possess and possession of dangerous drugs (marijuana) with intent to supply.
Hepburn received the mandatory minimum of four years at Her Majesty’s Prison while his then co-accused 48-year-old Calvin Rolle, of Pinewood Gardens, and 27-year-old Tristan Black, of Freeport, Grand Bahama, received a November trial date after pleading not guilty to the charges.
Person convicted of such charges, according to the amended law of November 2011, face between four-seven years imprisonment.
