A businessman convicted of gun and ammunition possession has three months to pay the High Court a $40,000 fine.
Justice Randall Worrell imposed the sentence on Mervyn Walter Hunte, 53, of Six Roads, St Philip during Tuesday’s virtual sitting of the No. 3 Supreme Court.
Hunte pleaded guilty to possessing a .45 revolver and 16 rounds of ammunition on November 9, 2018, as well as drug offences.
Justice Worrell imposed on him a fine of $25,000 for the firearm offence payable in three months or the alternative of spending 1,417 days in prison which is the remainder of an eight-year starting sentence.
For possession of the ammunition, the first-time offender, who was represented by attorney-at-law Angella Mitchell-Gittens, was fined $15,000. This fine must also be paid in three months or he faces the alternative prison sentence.
On the indictments of possession and trafficking of 142.5 grammes of cannabis, Hunte was convicted, reprimanded and discharged.
In handing down the sentence, the High Court judge said the possession of the illegal weapon and ammunition are matters that are “extremely serious”.
He said the case had crossed the threshold for a custodial sentence to be imposed but the court had taken into account that the items were no longer on the streets and that Hunte, a first-time offender, had cooperated with the police.
Given those factors, the judge shaved two years off the eight-year starting sentence, bringing it to six years. Hunte was then credited with a one-third discount for his guilty plea and the 43 days he had spent on remand leaving him with 1,417 days to spend in jail.
But Justice Worrell said although Hunte’s case was one that should be treated with a prison sentence, “in your particular case no useful purpose may be served for any additional incarceration”.
The judge added: “I think based on all the features surrounding you . . . you are given a chance on this occasion, Mr Hunte, but if you do not pay the fine you will have to spend some time in prison. This is not to be treated as a light getting off in any way.”
The case was prosecuted by Crown Counsel Romario Straker.
