Last week, we told you about amputee Alton White, the taxi driver who was found guilty of drug possession after he was busted by the Gang Suppression Unit with an amount of drugs normally considered to be drug trafficking.
Well, tonight, he must come up with quite an amount of money to pay a hefty fine, much larger than the ordinary amount for other drug possession convictions.
As we told you, the GSU visited his house in the Conch Shell Bay on September 3, 2013, and it was then that they found the drugs at his premises. The officers ended up finding 119 grams - or 4 ounces - of cannabis at the house and so they charged him with drug trafficking. He pleaded guilty to the offence last week Wednesday and explained to Magistrate Herbert Panton that he had all that drugs not for sale or distribution but to ease the pain of his amputation. Magistrate Panton accepted his plea, and today he handed him a fine of $1,500, which he must pay by June 30, 2015. If he defaults on payment at that time, he will be sentenced to serve 3 years in jail.
And while you might wonder why such a large fine, remember, that he had an amount of drugs classified under the law as drug trafficking. Had Magistrate Panton insisted on the drug trafficking charge, White would have been facing a sentence of a $10,000 fine or 3 years in jail, or both.
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