The Tribune

By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN found guilty of possessing a loaded firearm inside a bank pleaded with a magistrate for leniency after the prosecutor called for a four-year prison sentence.

Duke Moss, 41, was found with a black 9mm G2C Taurus pistol, 23 rounds of ammunition and a 9mm magazine inside the Bank of the Bahamas on Shirley Street in January, 2022.

Moss, who returns for sentencing on April 9, said even one day in jail is unforgettable and described every day in prison as hell. He asked the magistrate how much punishment a man must endure and claimed he would be a benefit to society.

Inspector Cordero Farrington, the prosecutor, urged the court to impose a four-year sentence, excluding the two years Moss has already spent on remand.

He said the accused initially pleaded guilty but later changed his plea to not guilty, adding that Moss had every opportunity to maintain the guilty plea during the trial.

Inspector Farrington said Moss knew the firearm and its component parts belonged to him.

In response, Moss said he was in a quagmire when he changed his plea and had taken advice from someone he believed knew the law.

Before being taken back to prison, he was allowed a moment with relatives in court.

Moss was found guilty of possession of an unlicensed firearm, possession of ammunition and possession of a component part of a firearm before Deputy Chief Magistrate Shaka Serville.