St Lucian ordered to pay $10,000 for possession of cannabis

St Lucian national, Marlon Deterville asked the magistrate on three ocassions to repeat what she had said after she fined him heavily for drug possesion.{{more}}

At the Serious Offences Court on Monday, magistrate Zoila Ellis-Browne fined Deterville $10,000 after he pleaded guilty to possession of 2,119 grams of cannabis.

A confused looking Deterville asked, “Can you repeat what you said again, your worship,” with the magistrate replying that she was only going to repeat herself for a third and last time.

He was ordered to pay the fine forthwith or spend three years in prison. An order was also made for his deportation after the fine had been paid or sentence served.

Deterville had initially pleaded not guilty to the charge.

According to the facts, on January 20, 2014, members of the Rapid Response Unit and Coastguard were on patrol in the De Volet Mountains on the Leeward Coast, when they observed a boat docked on the beach there.

As the officers approached, the men ran and Deterville who had a knapsack, dropped it and was caught. The bag was retrieved and the drug was discovered.(KW)