A 51-year-old man, found with $1,000 worth of cocaine last week, was ordered to pay $1,800 to avoid spending six months in prison.
Police arrested Chesley Armaly after they found two ounces of the drugs in a folder in a truck he was driving on February 22.
He pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous drug possession when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt.
The prosecution said officers, acting on information, went to the Cable Beach area where they observed the accused riding in a white Ford truck that matched the description of the vehicle given to them. They then beckoned for the vehicle to stop and informed Armaly that he and the truck would be searched for dangerous drugs and firearms. During their investigation, officers found the cocaine in a brown paper bag that was hidden in a black file folder. The accused was subsequently arrested and taken to the Drug Enforcement Unit. When he was questioned in custody there, he admitted the offence and was subsequently charged.
During the hearing, Armaly’s attorney, Jomo Campbell, told the magistrate his client pleaded guilty because he did not want to waste the court’s time. He also said Armaly’s business had come to a “complete halt” due to the pandemic and said he bought the drugs because he was “feeling pressured”.
In response, Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt said at 51, Armaly should have been beyond the point of “boyish curiosities”. As a result, she fined him and in default of the fine, he will serve a prison sentence.
She also placed the accused on probation for three months and ordered him to undergo chemical abuse counseling at a facility that would be determined by the Department of Rehabilitative and Welfare Services.
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