Vincentian drug convict Andy Adrian Edson Ferdinand will be home for Christmas.
The 42-year-old felon from Rose Hall, St Vincent was today sentenced to nine years in prison for having cannabis in Barbados’ territorial waters on May 9, 2016. However he only has 95 days left to serve on that sentence at the Majesty’s Prison Dodds.
Ferdinand had previously pleaded guilty before Justice Randall Worrell in the No. 2 Supreme Court to possession, trafficking and importation of 303. 4 kilogrammes of marijuana.
The illegal substance was found in bulky packages and polythene bags on a vessel just off Holetown, St James, Senior Crown Counsel Olivia Davis said as she outlined the facts of the case today. Ferdinand was the only other man on board with the captain when coast guard officials intercepted the vessel, which had no navigational lights.
When questioned he told lawmen, “Yes, I help the captain bring in the drugs on the boat. I was to get a ride back to St Vincent . . . . The Bajan man I get hold with I don’t know he name.”
In handing down the sentence via a Zoom hearing Justice Randall Worrell credited him for the 1 548 days he had already spent on remand at Dodds and gave him the full one-third discount for his guilty plea. The judge also took into consideration other factors including the mitigating and aggravating features of the offence leaving the convict, who was represented by attorney-at-law Romain Marshall, with just 95 days to serve at the penal facility.
Justice Worrell stated that the importation of drugs was a serious matter, which has caused and continues to cause much concern in society because the illicit substance was destined for distribution.
