A Charlestown resident, who was on trial for having 106 grammes of cannabis in her possession for the purpose of trafficking, was yesterday sentenced to just under three years’ imprisonment and fined $159,000 by the court.
Tiffany Sultan, 23, accused of having the narcotics in her possession, on January 9, at Broad Street, Charlestown, with tears rolling down her face, heard a guilty verdict handed down to her by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan.
During Chief Magistrate McLennan’s decision, she told Sultan that from the evidence presented by the prosecution, through its witnesses, the court was satisfied that she was in possession of the cannabis, and she had knowledge of it. The Chief Magistrate said that the prosecutor had proved that the accused was the only one who had access to the premises where the cannabis was found, as well as, she was the sole occupant of house.
When the narcotics were found by the police in Sultan’s home, there was also over $200,000 in cash, which was seized by the police. The Chief Magistrate told the defendant that the court was satisfied that she sold the drug. During Sultan’s defence last week, she had told the court that the money which the police had found in her bedroom belonged to her father, who is a welder. The accused later called her father, Hugh Davis, as her witness, who told the court that he had indeed given Sultan the money to keep, as she was his trustee.
However, the Chief Magistrate told the accused that the court disbelieved her testimony and that her defence failed to create a doubt in the prosecution’s case.
The Chief Magistrate told the court that the prosecution had proven its case against Sultan, and the court had no choice but to find her guilty of trafficking the narcotics.
The defendant’s lawyer, Stanley Moore, in mitigation, asked the court to show the defendant mercy. Moore said from the very beginning his client had cooperated with the police, and has placed all the blame upon herself. The lawyer argued that behind his client’s innocence, there was a manipulator who was pulling the strings and the police are yet to apprehend the ‘axe-man’ who is free, while his 23-year-old client will face the penalty. Moore looked at his client, while addressing the court saying, “It’s the small fries who end up before the courts, while the sharks swim free.”
Moore, who continued to beg the court for mercy on his client, told the court that it should bear in mind that his client had been in prison between January 9 and February 15, before bail had been granted, and some time should be deducted from her sentence.
Chief Magistrate after hearing submissions from the defence, sentenced Sultan to two years plus eleven months in jail. She was also fined $159,000, which is three times the street value of the narcotics she had in her possession. The Chief Magistrate told the court that she had considered the time Sultan had spent in jail, hence the shortened jail term.
