Patrina Dalrymple, the Guyana-born American woman now on the run after being charged over an attempt to smuggle nearly a kilo of cocaine onboard a flight out of the country, was yesterday sentenced to 60 months in prison in her absence.
Dalrympleโs trial went on although she fled the country after her American passport was released by the court. In addition to the sentence, Dalrymple was also fined $2,529,900 by trial magistrate Judy Latchman.
Dalrymple, 27, of Maryland, who resided at 214 Freeman Street, East La Penitence while on vacation, was refused bail at the lower court but was later granted the same in the sum of $1.2 million by the High Court.
She had been charged in May with having 937 grammes of cocaine in her possession at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.
On the day Dalrymple was apprehended, she had been an outgoing passenger on a Caribbean Airlines flight bound for the John F Kennedy Airport. The woman had placed her suitcase on the baggage scanner when ranks noticed something strange and were prompted to search her luggage. At the bottom of the suitcase, a parcel was found concealed, in which a substance later confirmed to be cocaine was found.
According to reports, Dalrymple later admitted to knowing the substance was hidden in her suitcase and told investigators that she was taking it back for her boyfriend, whom she identified as Kenton Haynes.
