A city magistrate yesterday handed down a four-year sentence to Trevor Rodrigues, who was held after a police search of his Duncan Street, Campbellville home unearthed a little over 25 pounds of cocaine, as well as handguns and ammunition.
The charges against Rodrigues, which were read by Magistrate Annette Singh, stemmed from a domestic violence report on May 26, 2017.
It is alleged that Rodrigues, had in his possession 11.363 kilogrammes of cocaine (equivalent to 25.05 pounds) for the purpose of trafficking.
He was also charged with having in his possession a 9mm pistol, a 9mm Glock and a .357 Magnum revolver, along with matching ammunition, without being a licensed firearm holder.
The accused had previously pleaded not guilty to those charges, along with two counts of threatening language and another two counts of threatening behaviour.
During his second court appearance before Magistrate Annette Singh, the accused changed his plea to guilty to the cocaine possession charge, and the firearm and ammunition charges.
As a result, Magistrate Singh sentenced the defendant to four years in jail for the cocaine and 24 months for the other charges. However, he will only serve four years as the sentences will run concurrently.
The other charges of threatening language and threatening behaviour were dropped after the defendant’s reputed wife offered no evidence.
During his first court appearance, the prosecutor stated that on the day in question, the defendant’s wife, Amanda Rodrigues, was threatened by him with a black handgun. Sometime later, the woman called a co-worker who went to their home and was able to take the gun away from Rodrigues. The police, according to the prosecutor’s facts, were later notified and upon their arrival at the defendant’s home, they took possession of the gun and later conducted a search of the premises. During their search, the police found a 100-pound gas cylinder and a 20-pound gas cylinder with false bottoms. A search of the cylinders uncovered the cocaine.
The police also found the other two guns and ammunition.
