A teenager who lied about his age but admitted that he had a quantity of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking was yesterday sentenced to four years imprisonment plus a fine of $1.2 million when he appeared before Magistrate Adele Nagamootoo, in the New Amsterdam Court.
Paul Wilson, 18, of Tucber Park, was discovered with the cannabis sativa strapped to his thigh, at a police road block at Fort Wellington, West Coast Berbice.
On February 16, Wilson was in a car travelling to Georgetown when the police stopped it at a road block and carried out searches. The driver and other passengers were searched but the police found nothing until they searched Wilson, a school dropout. A parcel was found in his left-side pants pocket and when opened, it revealed leaves, seeds and stems suspected to be marijuana. Wilson was cautioned and taken to the Fort Wellington Police Station, where, during a search carried out on his person, another taped parcel was removed from his upper left thigh.
Wilson was charged and placed before the court on February 17, at which time he claimed that he was 16 years old.
When the court queried the value of the drugs, the prosecution did not have that information and the magistrate adjourned the case to yesterday. It was during this time that it was discovered that Wilson was not 16 as he had claimed, but 18 years old, as per his birth certificate.
Asked what he had to say prior to sentencing, Wilson, who was unrepresented by a lawyer, opted to remain silent.
His $1.2 million fine is four times the street value of the 840 grammes of marijuana he had in his possession.
