The state is set to appeal the outcome of the trial of drug trafficker Leonard Bacchus, who earned himself a suspended sentence after he admitted to trafficking nearly 150 pounds of cocaine.
Bacchus, of Block 20 Enmore/ Haslington New Scheme, East Coast Demerara, was initially charged in August 2011 with possessing 67.296 kilogrammes (148.36 pounds) of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. On Tuesday, before Magistrate Alex Moore at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court, Bacchus was given a five-year suspended sentence for the offence after he surprisingly changed his plea to guilty.
Additionally, Bacchus was charged with possessing 125 12-gauge shotgun cartridges and 115 .32 rounds of ammunition without licence. He also changed his not guilty plea to both weapons charges on Tuesday and earned a two-year suspended sentence.
These suspended sentences mean that Bacchus will not spend a day in prison unless he commits an offence within that time.
Since the sentencing, disbelief has been voiced at the verdict and a police source close to the case disclosed that the sentences will be appealed.
According to the source, there is no provision in the Narcotics Act for a suspended sentence. The Narcotics Act states that a person found guilty of narcotic trafficking must spend 3 to 5 years in prison along with a compulsory fine valued at three times the street value of the drug. If this fine is not paid by a predetermined date, the guilty party must spend a default 2 years in prison.
“The Narcotics Act is clear that the punishment cannot be substituted. So if it said 3 years, 5 years, that’s the time he has to spend in prison,” the source said.
Further, the source said, Bacchus’s fine was far below what he should have received; according to the calculation conducted by the magistrate on Tuesday, Bacchus was to pay a fine of $201.88M. However, the man’s lawyer James Bond proposed a sum of $2M. This sum was later increased to $2.5M and was agreed upon by the magistrate.
Bacchus has until June 30, 2015 to pay this fine.
The source also expressed surprise at Bacchus’s reduced fine. “The Narcotics Act is strict and the magistrate has no jurisdiction to trouble what is set in the law,” the source further said.
Prosecutor Stephen Telford prosecuted the matter and in his address to Magistrate Moore he asked for considerations to be made of the quantity of the drug involved. Following the request of Bond for a non-custodial sentence for his client, Telford requested that a custodial sentence be instituted.
According to reports, the prosecutor had indicated that prima facie cases had been made out against Bacchus for both of his charges. The prosecution had also made its submission and had been waiting for defence lawyer Bond to make his own.
On Tuesday, Bond was scheduled to make this submission for his client. However, in a surprise move, the lawyer indicated that Bacchus would be changing both of his pleas to guilty. Bond explained that the decision was made due to the embarrassment and suffering endured by Bacchus and his family since his initial charges in 2011.
Dismissed
Bacchus’s son, John Bacchus, had also been charged with narcotics possession in 2011 along with his father. At the time, the boy had been only 15-years-old. He was not charged with the ammunition possession.
In his submission, Prosecutor Telford had indicated a prima facie case had also been established against John Bacchus. According to the source, the prosecution had at no time indicated that it would be withdrawing its case or offering no evidence against John.
However on Tuesday, Magistrate Moore stated that no evidence had been offered in the younger Bacchus’s case and hence the matter was dismissed.
Though the senior Bacchus had changed his pleas to guilty after having them re-read to him by the Magistrate, John had not change his plea.
“So the magistrate on his own decision entered that no evidence was offered; I don’t know where he came up with that,” the source said.
Indranie Bacchus, Leonard Bacchus’s wife, also had her narcotics trafficking charge dismissed. However, in her case, the court had found no evidence against her. The woman’s lawyer had made a no-case submission and it was upheld as the court believed there was insufficient evidence to find her guilty.
On August 16, 2011, the trio were arrested after police ranks swooped down on their home following a tip-off. However, no one had been at home and the ranks kept a presence in the area and later made another attempt when the married couple and their three children arrived home.
The ranks found the drugs in the upper flat of the two-storey home, concealed in the false bottoms of Kunds ( receptacles used in Hindu religious functions) along with the ammunition.
A well-known businessman, who it was said to be the exporter of the Kunds, was also arrested in relation to the incident but was subsequently released.
According to reports, the Kunds would arrive in cars daily for Leonard Bacchus to polish. They had been arriving for about three months prior to the trio’s arrest.
