Truck driver fined $5K for nearly 500 grams of cannabis

A Horse Path man was fined $5,000 in the Magistrate’s Court on Monday after 488 grams of cannabis was found in a parked vehicle belonging to him.

Devonte Hasani Furlonge, a local truck driver, had pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled drug and possession with intent to supply when he appeared before Magistrate Ayanna Baptiste-DaBreo on a previous occasion.

During his subsequent appearance on Monday, Magistrate DaBreo slapped him with the $5,000 fine as well as three-month prison sentence which she suspended for a year.

That effectively means Furlonge will only serve the three-month sentence if he commits another offence within the next year.

 Meanwhile, the offender has up till December 30 to pay the fine. In default of not paying, Furlonge will spend six months at Her Majesty’s Prison.

What the court heard happened

The court heard that on July 9, police were on mobile patrol when they received reports of a jeep seen in the Horse Path area conducting suspicious activities.

The vehicle in question was found parked near a garbage bin and was later taken to the Road Town Police Station to ascertain the identity of the owner.

Sometime later, Furlonge visited the police station where he was asked if he had anything illegal in the vehicle.

He reportedly confirmed that he had cannabis weighing at least one pound in the car.

Dogs from the police K9 Unit then unearthed what appeared to be green vegetable matter suspected to be cannabis in the trunk of the vehicle.

The young offender was subsequently arrested, and an audio-video interview was conducted. 

During that interview, he reportedly admitted that the substance belonged to him. He, however, said he had no intention of supplying drugs to anyone. He was later charged.

His matter has been adjourned to January 16, 2020, for a report on payment. 

Attorney-at-law Stacy Abel represents the accused.