Grazettes man fined $40k for stealing nearly 68kg of cannabis

Dale Orlando Nicholls admitted he stole 67.7 kilogrammes of cannabis from a northern beach and kept it at his home after he saw “a move going down”. That decision has now led to him being slapped with a $40 000 fine in the High Court.

The resident of Scotts Terrace, Grazettes, reappeared in the No. 4 Supreme Court for sentencing after pleading guilty to having and trafficking 67.7 kilogrammes of cannabis on April 20, 2019.

Asking for leniency, he said: “From the bottom of my heart, I must apologise about the course that I took within that decision… I was prominent at the time in my landscaping business, and I made a silly decision. There were a lot of things on my mind. I guess when pressure takes hold sometimes you take what isn’t always the rightest decision.”

The court heard that, acting on information received, officers executed a search warrant at Nicholls’s home where they found a package containing the controlled drug. When he was shown the suspected cannabis, Nicholls told the officers: “It is cannabis. It belong to me. I t’ief it from Six Men’s, after I see the move going down.” As he was arrested and charged, he said: “It’s just a little herb, I ain’t kill nobody.”

But Justice Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell found the large quantity of the drug aggravating, noting that it suggested that the cannabis was to be used for financial gain, that there was a degree of planning involved in getting the drugs transported to his apartment and that the drug was obtained while committing theft. She reached a nine-year starting sentence, after weighing these against the lack of sophistication of the offence and that no firearm or violence had been used.

“The court, however, is aware of the resulting violence that usually occurs after drugs are stolen from persons who import and traffic in drugs,” the judge said.

Nicholls was credited with a one-third discount for his guilty plea, leaving a custodial sentence of six years. However, after considering the circumstances of the case and the rehabilitative aspect of sentencing, Justice Smith-Bovell opted for the alternative sentence of a fine.

She said: “When considering the aggravating and mitigating factors and the maximum fine that could be imposed for possession under the legislation, the court is of the view that $40 000 is a reasonable fine in the circumstances, as the now convicted man was not the importer of the drugs but was being opportunistic in stealing the drugs for financial gain. He was still committing an illegal act within this illegal act. The absence of the use of any weapons, violence or any real planning in the commission of the offence also influenced the court in arriving at the sum.”

She ordered him to pay $15 000 immediately, with the balance to be settled by December 17, 2027, failing which, he will serve a six-year custodial sentence.

The case will be reviewed on September 25.

Nicholls’ defence attorney is Safiya Moore, while Acting Senior State Counsel Paul Prescod is the procecutor. 

(JB)