Visitor caught with ‘medical cannabis’ at airport fined
A United States man was fined $4,000 after he was caught travelling through the TB Lettsome International Airport on Beef Island with 30.5 grams of cannabis on Wednesday.
Forty-one-year-old Travis Sargillo, who was on a 10-day visit to the territory with his wife and friends, claimed the drugs were to treat his anxiety.
Prosecutors argued in court that the visitor not only ‘neglected to declare the drugs’ to local border officials, he also failed to produce any medical documents supporting his claim. As such, he was charged with ‘possession of a controlled drug’ and ‘untrue declaration’.
He pleaded guilty to both offences when he appeared before Magistrate Giselle Jackman-Lumy on Thursday.
He was fined $2,000 for possession of a controlled drug. The funds are to be paid on Friday (today) or, in default, he will spend 30 days at Her Majesty’s Prison.
Sargillo was slapped with another $2,000 for the untrue declaration charge; also to be paid on Friday. If he fails to pay, he will spend two weeks at the adult penitentiary.
Notably, the visiting offender was not charged with importation of drugs.
“I sincerely apologize … I didn’t mean any disrespect,” Sargillo told the court.
Mitigating factors outweigh aggravating ones, says court
Before he was fined, his attorney Patrick Thompson beseeched the court to consider a fine as opposed to a custodial sentence on his client. Thompson also produced a document from Sargillo’s doctor corroborating his claim and argued that his client was of generally good standing and had two character witnesses who sent letters vouching for him.
The court said it considered the seriousness of the offence and the need for deterrence as aggravating factors in the case.
On the other hand, his early guilty plea, his no antecedents, his remorse, and good character were mitigating factors that went in his favour.
The magistrate said the mitigating factors ‘far outweighed’ the aggravating factors so there was no need for a custodial sentence.
What happened
The court heard that on the day in question, Sargillo came into the territory on a private Delta jet along with his wife and friends.
While going through Customs, his luggage was searched and a black box containing three vacuum-sealed plastic bags containing cannabis was found.
“I have it for medical purposes for my anxiety,” he reportedly said when questioned about the illegal find.
He told the authorities that he had left the critical doctor prescription at his home.
He was subsequently arrested and charged.
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Non sense. Do home work before travelling.
Or was it was thought that whyte privilege was sufficient to circumvent the law?
Take it easy, your racism is showing…
No such thing. We are one race HUMAN. Different species of human beings. One species believes the lack of melanin gives them a certain privilege. But foolish people that is a death sentence. Ask the SUN.
never a truer word spoken,usGingers are in serious danger over here!
Hate to burst your bubble but truth be told, there is no such thing as melanin. Its just a name given to carbon that has been oxidated. If melanin existed, you would find it or its composition on the table of elements. Also, we are not all 1 race, every race on earth has an origin traced back to an animal except the black race. Ever wonder why every other race has straight hair but only those with black genes have hair that rises up? We are the so called aliens that decended from the skies as told in sumerian texts, the ancient nubians, noo not africans either but NUBIANS. Its a tough pill to swallow but it will come out in the next 5 or 10 years. All high ranking races except black ppl aka ppl in darkness seem to be aware oof this fact….. hence the reason why the east indians get better treatment….its not the skin color…its knowing fully well who is who and keeping that knowledge a secret. This comment done F’d alot of yall friday up lol.
Deuces.
HA! Foolish mortal all life began in Ethiopia. No such thing as melanin? LOL INDIANS? HAAAAAAA! Original human is the Black man. Google Dr. Michael Chen he will tell you. Ever ask your self why the Black man so hated? Nothing in history warrants such hatred from the weakling Caucasian beings. Heck your were thought to bathe and sanitize yourself from the Moors. Never heard any INDIANS advancing civilization. Even Ghandi was a prejudice against the original man. Welp Indians etc. whomever we will SEEE WHOO is prepared for GLOBAL WARMING when things heat up HA!
Oh yeah I forgot… Google GENETIC DISORDER and GENETIC DISEASES for your species of human. THEN compare YOUR LOOOONNNGGG LIST versus the ORIGINAL BLACK MAN.
Then…you can take that someofabich….turn it sideways and stick straight up your candy azz.
If yuh SMEEEEEEELLLLLLLL what the BLACK MAN is cooking.
Whatever it is,that timg which determines the pigment and which is obviously absent from the bodies of Earth’s colonisers,is worth more than gold
And so,it is coveted.
You are mistaken or more likely,not yet woke.
Knowledge,discernment,awareness are some welcome factors that are being shown here.
Take it easy, your ignorance is showing. Anon’s comment was in no way racist. White privilege is a thing.
TALK THE TALK KING or QUEEN.
Give the man a break …Legalize the herb.
‘Untrue declaration’, really? The police and DPP are basically saying, “we’re not punishing because you IMPORTED quantities of an illegal controlled substance to our shores, we’re punishing you because you lied about it”. Like wtf? Seriously? Are they stupid or deliberate? My money is on the latter. Sigh, it’s obvious still that all men were created equal but some men are just more ‘equal’ than others.
Especially with that particular magistrate
Some forgot– how much time F**y man do for his 20 plants last year? Good story to get out a race remark though.
Oh! and have a blessed day. Some here are 2 faced. Kill tourism I say…
4000 for 300 worth of pop..lardy…private jet…cause i white.
@Mr Shovels
January 18, 2019 at 4:19 PM
Take it easy, your ignorance is showing. Anon’s comment was in no way racist. White privilege is a thing.
Now wrap your boorish mind around these truths including your twenty eight supporters of Mr Shovels:
“Racism is good for white people.
Why White Families Teach Racism to Their Kids?
Because racism makes their kids life better.
We have to understand White people! There is a fairly dramatic dilemma for the majority of white people when it comes to fighting racism.
Simply because in the world we live now all white people benefit from racism, and the caste system behind racism is profitable, and quite comfortable for them.
If you are white, you are better treated
If you are white, you get better job, and much faster.
If you are white, you travel the world without visa and you are treated better
If you are white, Police won’t harass you or kill you on sight
If you are white, you are looked up as a model even if you have not achieved anything!
If you are white, you are feared and people are forced to smile at you
If you are white, you have a lot of privileges denied to other people from housing to access to capital
if you are white, you really don’t understand why people don’t get what you get so easily!
Who won’t like to enjoy such kind of privileges as a birth right? Why would white people be forced fight to change something that is profitable to them?
In fact, without the pervasive racism in society and the world, they’d lose most of the automatic privileges now associated to their skin color, and more dramatically they would have to compete with 7-10 billion people on equal basis.
Very scary! Not something quite comfortable! Therefore most of white people are not ready for the end of racial caste system current in the world.”
Now, facts, fiction, racism or plain ole simple truths.
No facts there. At best hyperbole, at worst a pitiful diatribe. One thing is clear, almost every word is bigotry.
@Uncle Buck:
a startling illustration of unremitting denial of truths and oppression of individual intellect.
I couldn’t agree more. In fact, you worded it quite well, only it would have been more appropriate addressed to anonymous.
“Racism is an all-encompassing system that works on multiple levels and results in an unequal distribution of privileges, resources and power between white people and people of color – overall – with whites as the beneficiaries of that distribution.”
Perhaps, if a learned and honest response is not in one’s intellectual capacity, perhaps one should leave the “typing pad” alone.
I think irony just flew over your head.
@Uncle Buck
Irony indeed!
Why so? Assuredly, if your kind still had complete control over all humanity, i would not know how to read much less type or express truths.
Many US states and now Canada have legalized cannabis. Many people there take vacations, and many will probably select their destination based on tolerance regarding cannabis use. BVIs have the right to have their quite restrictive laws but considration needs to be given to policy. In this case, a wealthy visitor (or at least connected to wealth since he cam on a private jet) got caught. What to do? Easiest thing would have been to confiscate and a stern warning. Perhaps the fines meted out are just (though the fine for not declaring is ridiculous…has any person caught with bales of cocaine been charged with not declaring it?) but it’s doubtful they will return. Meanwhile over in the US VI, medical marijuana statutes are on their way. The whole thing is quite absurd. It’s not at all difficult to find locals hereabours smoking it up.
What the f this all have to do with people colors?
It’s just time to join the real world
Legalise it, like lots of country now.
People who have hate in their hearts turn this into a colour thing. It’s self-protection.
The thing start more to come they just testing the laws n to change mind of society n government as such to put laws in place for this
What part of illegal people don’t understand? Until there are changes/amendments to the Marijuana laws of the Virgin Islands it is illegal to use and possess it.
Obsurd. Legalize it already for adults.
Decriminalize….Antigua has…st kitts about to….when yall gonnA.
Bringing his own weed to BVI? That’s like bringing a brown bag lunch to a buffet or bringing your wife to the Spanish bars. Jeez.
The problem is, we like to smoke quality weed, not the absolute dirt swag the islanders smoke out of desperation. And buffets usually have questionable food, and the skanks‘s in Spanish bars will certainly give you gonnochlymdaherphyllis, at the least. Always safer smoking quality weed with your own hot wives as you eat quality food that you snuck in!