Two years after being arrested for trafficking over $45,000 worth of marijuana, a Siparia man was sentenced to two years hard labour by a Point Fortin magistrate yesterday. Dillon Maharaj, 39, a rigger of Bartlett Street, Coora Road, Siparia, had initially pleaded not guilty to a charge of marijuana possession for the purposes of trafficking, laid by Act Sgt Sheldon Ablacksingh. He was placed on $25,000 bail.
However, when he reappeared before Senior Magistrate Maria Busby Earle Caddle in the Point Fortin First Magistrates Court yesterday, his attorney Ian Brooks informed the court Maharaj wanted to change his plea to guilty. Prosecutor Sgt Ramdeo Sookdeo said around 12.20 pm on July 12, 2013, officers, led by Ablacksingh and including Cpl Figaro and PC Smith, were on patrol at Cap-de-ville Main Road, when they intercepted Maharaj’s black Nissan Navara.
They searched the van and found a black garbage bag containing four packets of compressed marijuana on the floor of the front passenger seat. Brooks told the court yesterdayMaharaj was sorry for committing the offence. He produced four testimonials in favour of Maharaj and pleaded with the magistrate to impose a fine rather than a custodial sentence.
However, the magistrate said Maharaj had a previous conviction four months prior to the July 2013 offence. She also referred to the quantity of the marijuana and the fact that Maharaj pleaded guilty two years after the offence was committed.