Man gets nine months for marijuana

A man who was sentenced to six months for controlled drugs in April has been given an additional nine months on another drug charge.
Patrick Nero, who had 17 previous convictions for controlled drugs and theft, pleaded guilty to possessing 2,810 grammes of marijuana with intent to supply when he appeared before the Serious Crime Court last week Thursday.
Nero was arrested and charged at Layou on March 20, this year.{{more}}
The court heard that at about 10.40 a.m. a police officer at the Layou Police Station received certain information. As a result, he went to the public road and stopped motor vehicle H5418 on which Nero was a passenger. The officer identified himself and told Nero of his suspicion of him being in possession of a controlled substance. Nero consented to a request to search him.
The court also heard that the officer found Nero with a bag and took him to the police station. When the bag was searched, two taped packages of marijuana were found inside.
Nero’s lawyer, Samantha Robertson, in presenting mitigating factors, said her client pleaded guilty to the charge and that his girlfriend was seven months pregnant. She suggested that since he was already serving a sentence, he could be given a custodial penalty.
Chief Magistrate Simone Churaman, in her reply, said the sentence would have to be a custodial one which would run concurrent to his present sentence. She explained that she did not have the power to impose a sentence that would be effective at the conclusion of his present sentence. She further said that if it was his first drug offence, she would have imposed a financial penalty.
Nero’s three-month sentence imposed in April and the nine-month sentence imposed last week are to run concurrently.