Three American construction workers were fined last week after pleading guilty to charges of drug consumption and possession for personal use.
The fines plus costs of drug analyses totalled $5,700. Magistrate Nova Hall said the offences could be dealt with this way because the men had no previous convictions and there was no indication the drugs were for supply.
Thomas Johannes Watson, Erik Scott Schaefer and James Allen Green were arrested last year when officers of the Drugs Task Force were checking in the vicinity of a West Bay Road condominium complex with sniffer dogs.
Attorney John Furniss asked that these three defendants be separated from the other three persons arrested at the time in connection with 4.5 kilos of cocaine (Caymanian Compass, 25 October).
Crown Counsel Lesley Bates confirmed that the officers had searched four apartments and the cocaine was found in another apartment, not one occupied by any of these men.
Mr. Furniss said the men came down to assist with renovations of the condo complex after Hurricane Ivan. They did not come here to get into trouble. There was about three months’ work left to be done on the apartment blocks before they are habitable and able to be rented, he noted.
The attorney also asked the court to consider the men’s early admissions.
Green, 24, pleaded guilty to consuming ganja and cocaine; possession of .437 gram of ganja. His fines were $250 for each offence, plus $100 costs.
Watson, 24, admitting possession of 34.685 grams of ganja (a little over an ounce) for which he was fined $600. He also admitted possession of a utensil used in the consumption of a controlled drug – a film canister — for which he was fined $250. Further penalties were fines of $250 each for consumption of ganja and cocaine. Analysis costs were assessed at $550, for a total of $1,900.
In addition to a small quantity of ganja, Schaefer admitted possession of seven Xanax tablets and .693 gram of Ecstasy.
Schaefer, 25, also admitted consuming ganja and having three pipes for drug consumption.
He was fined $500 for the ganja, $250 for consumption, $250 for each of the pipes, $500 for the Ecstasy and $250 for the Xanax. In his case, the cost to analyse the drugs was $700, bringing his total to $2,950.
Mr. Furniss told the court that the men had been advised of the possible disposal of their matters and they had been saving up.
The defendants were concerned as to whether their employer would continue to employ them or whether they might have to leave the island because of Immigration.
The three defendants charged in connection with the cocaine have chosen to be tried in the Grand Court. A preliminary inquiry has been set for 15 February.
Attorney Ben Tonner represents Anthony Wayne Watson and Thomas Vincent Watson, both of whom are in custody. Mr. Furniss represents Cindy Jo Hair, who is on bail.
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