Fifty-eight-year-old Courtney Demonick on Friday appeared before Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus and pleaded guilty to the possession of 89.23 kilograms of cannabis and 20 grams of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
Some of the drugs that were found at the Charlestown, Georgetown house
Demonick of Lot 82 St Stephen Street, Charlestown, was taken into custody along with two others when his home was raided by Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) ranks on Tuesday.
He was also charged for having 1.5 kilograms of cannabis in his possession at his home.
After the charges were read, the father of three admitted to possession and ownership of the drugs. Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus jailed him for four years and imposed a fine of $8.4 million.
For the second charge, he was fined $50,000 and sentenced to one-year imprisonment. These sentences will run concurrently. Taking into consideration that Demonick cooperated fully with CANU during their investigation, the Magistrate deducted 12 months from his sentence.
In a plea of mitigation, Demonick apologised to the court for his actions and said that he did the illegal act to support his children.
“I have a little son, who is four and he suffers from bronchitis and I have to take care of him…I know it was a bad choice,” he told the Court.
His co-accused 23-year-old Ebony Craig, of Lot 17 Lamaha Springs, Georgetown, had the charges withdrawn against her after Demonick admitted to the offences.
According to CANU Prosecutor, Konyo Sandiford, Demonick’s home was under CANU radar for a lengthy period prior to the raid.
However, she noted that ranks only invaded after they saw the accused placing black plastic bags into a minibus that was parked outside his home.
The man was also allegedly seen placing several other bulky bags into a motorcar bearing registration numbers PPP 3008.
The court was informed that CANU ranks intercepted Demonick and carried out a search in the same motorcar where 1.564 kilograms of marijuana were found.
A warrant was also issued for a search to be carried out on his premises. The search unearthed 89.23 kilograms of cannabis and 20 grams of cocaine inside the kitchen and bedroom area.
