Magistrate gives concurrent sentence, encourages positive outlook
An inmate at Northward Prison serving a life sentence for murder appeared in court Tuesday for possessing marijuana.
Kurt Fabian Ebanks, 37, is charged with possession of less than a gram of ganja.
Ebanks did a quick calculation to see if the charge had been brought within the six-month limit; he then pleaded guilty to possessing 0.903 gram of ganja on July 29, 2013, at the prison.
Magistrate Valdis Foldats typically asks an inmate charged with drug offenses when his earliest release date is and then gives a term to be served consecutively, along with a warning that any further drug offense will be met with a longer consecutive term.
In this case, Ebanks told the court, “I’m doing a life sentence.”Magistrate Foldats explained that the law does not allow him to give a consecutive sentence to a life sentence. He said he would not even hear the facts leading to the charge, and then imposed a concurrent term of one month.
Ebanks was 24 when he and another person received the mandatory life sentence for murdering taxi driver Curtis Seymour in a robbery that netted $63.
There is an incentive for Ebanks not to re-offend, the magistrate suggested. Five or 10 years from now, he indicated, there will be changes in the law that provide for parole eligibility. An inmate with a clean prison record will have a chance because there will be parole provisions in place that will enable a person serving a life sentence to apply.
“I’m trying to be positive here,” he said, pointing out that there was no guarantee an application would be successful, but it was something to work toward.
“Light at the end of the tunnel,” Ebanks agreed.
The magistrate urged him to get involved in activities that would improve his prison record – be helpful to young prisoners; get on the inmates committee to work for changes such as more exercise time or a budget increase for rehabilitation programs; or ask for a meeting with the head of prisons to see what kind of project he might take on.
“MLAs don’t want to change the tariff,” Ebanks told the court, referring to Cayman’s lawmakers.
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