An American woman who was arrested with 7.15 grams (0.25 ounces) of cocaine, has been fined $10,000 and released, with a strict warning to get the rehabilitative help she needs.
Appearing before the Grand Court on Friday, 5 April, Yoojin Oh wept silently as prosecutors outlined the uncontested case against her.
Oh, 31, an American nurse who was visiting Cayman to attend the wedding of a longtime friend, was caught with eight packets of cocaine dispersed throughout her luggage at the time of her arrival at the Owen Roberts International Airport on 20 March.
“Customs and Border Control officers had reason to search Ms Oh, after she began acting nervous and anxious,” Scott Wainwright, assistant deputy director of public prosecutions, told the court.
Officers are said to have found the first two packets of cocaine in a bag containing Oh’s toiletries, resulting in a further search of the rest of her belongings, during which an additional six packets, two each, were found in three pairs of jeans.
“Upon discovery of the bags containing the white powdery substance, Ms Oh immediately confirmed that it was cocaine,” said Wainwright. “She told officers that she was extremely sorry and that it was an accident.”
The discovery of the drugs resulted in Oh being charged with four counts of importation of a controlled drug, to which she pleaded guilty.
Clear breach of law
The court heard that Oh, who is a medical professional at St. Joseph’s hospital in New Jersey (the fifth busiest hospital in the US), began working as a nurse in 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“She was working on the frontlines, during a time when there was little knowledge about COVID and how to handle it,” said Oh’s attorney Jonathon Hughes.
He added, “She worked under stressful conditions, with limited resources, and had to watch patient after patient die. There was one instance in which she was unable to track down the attending physician, because they were just so overwhelmed and understaffed, and the patient died.”
Hughes told the court that in addition to the stresses of the job Oh, a Korean-American, was living as a foreigner in the US, isolated from her family – the collective pressures of which all contributed to her using the illegal drugs.
In a letter penned by Oh, 31, to the court, she provided a similar explanation, while offering an apology to the people of Cayman.
“I broke the trust of the people of Cayman by bringing in these illegal drugs… I am deeply ashamed of my actions, and the disgrace it has brought upon me and my family… which I will have to live with for the rest of my life,” states the letter read out by Hughes.
Although Oh has explained that this was a horrible mistake, sentencing judge Cheryll Richards gave a different view.
“This was no accident, it was a deliberate and flagrant breach of the laws of the Cayman Islands,” said Richards, while referring to the fact that Oh hid the drugs in multiple items before arriving.
Commercial sale vs personal use
The 7.15 grams of cocaine has an estimated street value of US$858 which, her attorney explained, is further proof that the drugs were for recreational purposes and not for resale while in Cayman.
“This level of offending falls between the lower level, that would be met with a community service order, and the higher level, which would be met with a significant custodial sentence,” said Hughes, who proposed a suspended sentence, thereby allowing Oh to return to the US – which was refused by Richards.
“A suspended sentence would be an exercise in futility, as it would be pointless to pass a sentence over which [the court] has no control,” said Richards.
Hughes told the court that in lieu of a custodial sentence, Oh would be able to pay a fine, as she had lodged a $10,000 cash bond with the court, while adding that she had already spent seven days in jail, and a further seven days on a 12-hour curfew.
“The sentence I pass is one of a fine of $2,500 for each count, which amounts to a total fine of $10,000,” said Richards. “An additional $500 in costs must be paid to the prosecution for the drug test conducted.”
A parting warning
“Let not what is about to happen in terms of my sentence of you, be considered to be any way giving any less weight to the wrong you have done,” said Richards. “You have not only let yourself down, you have let your family and friends down.”
She added, “All of them must be deeply ashamed as must you. The first step to getting help is admitting who you are and where you are.”
In several letters of character reference written on behalf of Oh, her friends, family and psychiatrist petitioned the courts to pass a sentence that would allow her to return to the US, where they vowed they would assist with her recovery.
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