This penalty is not stiff enough to deter others.
That’s the view of one of several Grenadians who expressed disappointment with what is seen as a “slap on the wrist” sentence by Acting Chief Magistrate Francine Foster to Marian resident Akim Francis who was caught last weekend by police with illegal drugs and several parts for a high-powered rifle.
In comment made on the sentence, several Grenadians believed that the Chief Magistrate should have handed down a much more severe sentence in light of the decision taken by the Congress administration of Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell to amend the firearms act to provide for stiffer penalties for offenders.
“…Our court is generous and kind to unrepentant criminals,” said another local.
He contended that a big player in the illegal drug trade would not have problems raising the $EC32, 000.00 fine as imposed by the court on Francis.
One other angry Grenadian commented: “That is ridiculous. How is that punishment supposed to help stop the criminal activity? All he (Francis) has to do is charge more for any future drug activities.”
Another said: “Wow, so gun parts do not require jail time.- wow, talk about being serious about gun control. As someone just responded to me, now he has the opportunity to sell more drugs to pay the fines.”
According to a former law enforcement official, this kind of sentence handed down by Magistrate Foster could demoralise law enforcement officers from doing their hard work.
“So if I break down my firearm and keep the various parts in different locations and the police were only able to find some but not all of the parts, I’m entitled to a slap on the wrist. Parts of an AR-15?? Are we serious?”
Another local chipped in: “The thought that possessing only parts of a weapon is no big deal is a slippery slope because someone else has the other parts and if they disassembled it then they know how to reassemble it when necessary.”
Another commented: “A four year SUSPENDED SENTENCE coming less than a year after we tell the public we’re going to go hard on individuals picked up for having illegal weapons.”
The Chief Magistrate imposed the following sentence on Francis who was represented in court by attorney-at-law Arley Gill:
*Handling a controlled drug to wit: Cocaine – Fined $ 15,000 ECD, to be paid in 18 months in default 7 months in prison.
*Trafficking a controlled drug to wit: Cannabis – Fined $7,000.ECD to be paid in 18 months and in default 10 months in prison.
*Possession of a firearm to wit: AR-15 components parts – Fined $10,000.ECD to be paid in 18 months in default 4 years in prison.
Francis also received a suspended sentence of 4 years in prison if convicted within 2 years of this sentence in any Magistrate court in Grenada for any offence.
The Chief Magistrate also issued an order for the drugs to be destroyed.
