Bahamas: 32-year-old disabled man fined $1,800 for peddling drugs
A 32-year-old disabled man was fined $1,800 yesterday for selling drugs to make ends meet.
Prosecutor Inspector Timothy Bain told the court that on July 21, 2021, police officers arrived at Raymone Gardiner's Nassau Village home armed with a search warrant.
Gardiner, who was standing outside when the cops arrived, ran.
Officers observed Gardiner throwing a backpack containing 1.8 pounds of marijuana from a home's roof.
The officers arrested Gardiner and retrieved the bag. When interviewed by police, Gardiner admitted that he had the drugs to sell. The officers seized $371 as the proceeds of drug sales.
Gardiner, born with a deformed hand, pleaded guilty to a charge of drug possession with intent to supply when he appeared before Magistrate Samuel McKinney for the start of his trial.
In asking the court for leniency, attorney Christina Galanos said that Gardiner’s father died in a car accident before he was born, and his mother died from an illness in 2015.
Galanos said that Gardiner, who lives with his aunt and cousins, had no prior convictions. Gardiner has a four-year-old daughter and is expecting a second child.
Galanos said Gardiner tried to help his aunt with bills and take care of his daughter by selling drugs. According to her, he earned below minimum wage on a construction job.
McKinney gave Gardiner the option of paying the fine or spending nine months in prison when he sentenced him.
The $371 was ordered to be forfeited to the Crown by McKinney.
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