Almost four months after being found guilty of trafficking over five pounds of cocaine, Joy Jacqueline Caines was yesterday sentenced and fined for the crime by city magistrate Dylon Bess.
Caines, a boutique owner, was charged in April of 2017 along with another woman, Bernadette Evandey Warren, who has already sentenced to spend three years behind bars.
At the conclusion of the proceedings yesterday at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, Caines was sentenced to four years imprisonment and fined $5,667,228.
The charge against Caines stated that on April 16th, 2017, at Lot 232 Luckhoo Street, Lodge Housing Scheme, she had 2.092 kilogrammes of cocaine in her possession for the purpose of trafficking. She had denied the charge.
Magistrate Bess, who was presiding over the trial, found Caines to be guilty at a hearing on February 22. However, he adjourned sentencing until March 27th, 2020, but there was a further delay after the courts were closed following the COVID-19 outbreak. Magistrate Bess had also ordered that a probation report be prepared for Caines.
Caine was found guilty after sufficient evidence was provided to the court to prove that Caines was the person who gave Warren the illicit substance. Warren, who was sentenced to three years in 2017 after pleading guilty to a charge that she had 1.504 kilogrammes of cocaine in her possession for the purpose of trafficking on April 16th, 2017 at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, had told Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit officers that she was given the large amount of cocaine by Caines.
As a result, Caines was arrested at her home, where an empty suitcase with false walls that contained cocaine was found.
In addition, a large amount of cash, including over $14.5 million, a large quantity of US dollars and other currencies, were found and seized, along with two vehicles.
