By FARRAH JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
A man caught with a brick of cocaine he claimed he found on a local beach was on Friday sentenced to 18 months in prison.
If he doesn’t pay an accompanying $10,000 fine, he could risk spending an additional six months on remand.
Gregory McPhee was charged with possession of dangerous drugs with the intent to supply after officers in Crooked Island found a quantity of cocaine stashed in his pants in September.
When PC 3822 Jarad Butterfield gave evidence on Thursday, he said that around 10.35am on the day in question, he and his partner proceeded to True Blue settlement in South Crooked Island. He said while they were in that area, they observed a grey Nissan Note travelling north.
PC Butterfield said the driver appeared to look in the direction of their marked police car before acting suspiciously. As a result, they used fog horns and sirens to beckon for the car to stop. He said when the car stopped they informed its three male occupants that they would be searched.
The court was told that during PC Butterfield’s investigation, he found a blue bag inside McPhee's pants in the waist area. He said when he examined it, he discovered a square clear wrapped package with cocaine, which McPhee claimed he found on an Acklins beach.
Although he denied the allegations, Magistrate Samuel McKinney found him guilty of the offence at the end of his trial.
In his ruling, the magistrate noted that McPhee did not attempt to challenge any of the evidence of the officer who testified against him. He also said the fact that the cocaine was found on McPhee, proved that the Crown’s allegation of dangerous drug possession was rightly “established.”
“The drugs were found in your trousers,” he told McPhee. “Even if you had innocent possession of them, why was it hidden in your waistband?”
Magistrate McKinney said because of these facts, the court found that the prosecution had proven its case and subsequently convicted McPhee of the offence.
Before he was taken into custody, McPhee told the court he “meant well” and insisted he had “made a mistake.”
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