Mother of two pleads guilty to cocaine possession

Failure to pay a $1,500 fine could see a 24-year-old mother of two spending two years behind bars.{{more}}

Maria Bruce of Caratal, Georgetown, was given a month to pay the fine after she pleaded guilty at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, August 12, of possession of 36 grams of cocaine on August 11, 2009.

Bruce was jointly charged with Steve Thomas, Andre Jones and Kenliss Thomas. The prosecution dismissed the matter against the three men after they pleaded not guilty.

The facts surfacing at the court indicate that members of the Rapid Response Unit went to the home of Kenliss Thomas to execute a search warrant in respect of controlled drugs at about 9pm on August 11.

While searching one of the bedrooms, Bruce was found with a plastic bag containing a whitish substance resembling cocaine. The bag was opened in her presence and she told officers that a man had just brought it for her. A sum of money consisting of different currencies was also found in another bedroom of the house. The prosecution had requested that the court forfeit that money.

Bruce’s lawyer, Ronald Marks, argued that there were no grounds established by the prosecution that created a nexus between the drug and money. “There is no evidence before you to have the money confiscated…no link at all was created and the money was found in another room,” Marks argued.

The attorney said that the application made by the prosecution was not supported by any evidence and that the cocaine was not even found in a manner that was packaged for sale. “Am I practicing a different law than the law of the land?” Marks asked rhetorically. He further added that the drug had an estimated street value of about EC$600 and that his client cooperated fully with the police and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

Before handing down sentence, Browne put a sound tongue lashing on Bruce. “You have gotten yourself in a den of iniquity…it is either you’re stupid or greedy, Browne chided. The Senior Magistrate added that cocaine is not produced in St Vincent and the Grenadines, only marijuana, for which he noted St Vincent has become infamous.

Browne, however, noted that one has to look carefully at the make up of the money found. “Even though counsel said there was no nexus between the drug and the money, I am satisfied that there was…in my view, that money was there for the illicit drug trade that you have embarked upon,” Browne stated. “You are a fine looking young woman with two children. What are you doing in this?” Browne asked.

Browne ruled that the money should be forfeited to the court.(KW)