| Woman takes drug possession |
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| Written by Administrator |
| Thursday, 22 July 2010 00:00 |
 A grandmother, 70-year-old Gene Cadle, her daughter, 47-year-old Francisca Flores, and her granddaughter 24-year-old Carol Lopez, along with two family friends 22-year-old Fiona Himes and 26-year-old Rosa Roches also known as Elizabeth Godoy, were charged with drug trafficking charges when they appeared in Magistrate’s Court #6 on Monday July 19. By the end of the day however, 24-year-old Carol Lopez took the rap when she pleaded guilty to possession simplicita instead
of drug trafficking. The other four defendants, Flores, Cadle, Humes and Roches pleaded not guilty to the charge.After an adjournment, the DPP’s office accepted the guilty plea and the other four women were cleared of the charges. In mitigation, Lopez claimed that she only had the weed for medicinal purpose as she suffers from asthma and uses it for that purpose. She claimed that she will never use the drug again and said that she was sorry. She begged for leniency and told the court that she is also a mother of two children. Magistrate Dorothy Flowers heard her cry for leniency and imposed a non custodial sentence as Lopez had no previous conviction for any drug related offences. She then imposed a fine of $2,000 plus a $5.00 cost of court in default one year if she is unable to pay the fine. The fine is to be paid by September 30. The arrest of the five women came on Sunday July 18 when police visited the Belama Phase 2 home on the strength of a search warrant and made a search of the home. While searching the kitchen, police say they found a black plastic bag containing suspected cannabis inside a white refrigerator. They then searched further and found a blue plastic bag on the kitchen table. Inside the bag, police found a black plastic bag with suspected cannabis. As the search continued, a third amount of suspected weed was found under the kitchen sink where two other plastic bags were found with suspected cannabis. |