Man who smuggled guns into the country through a courier company jailed for five years
A man who smuggled eight guns and 85 rounds of ammunition into the country through a courier company was yesterday sentenced to five years in prison.
Keith Higgs will spend an additional year behind bars if he doesn’t pay a $20,000 fine by completing his five-year-long prison term.
Higgs’ girlfriend, Abigail Nelson, who collected the contraband from the courier company, was sentenced to two years in prison.
The pair had denied the firearms trafficking charges when they made their initial appearance before Magistrate Samuel McKinney.
Higgs pleaded guilty to possession of firearms and ammunition with intent to supply, conspiracy to import firearms and ammunition, and possession of a prohibited weapon.
Nelson pleaded guilty to possession of firearms and ammunition with intent to supply.
Police raided the couple’s home in White’s Addition, off Kemp Road, on February 7, soon after the contraband was collected.
The prosecutor, Inspector Timothy Bain, told the court that officers took up surveillance at Dash Express on East Street around 8 a.m. on the day in question. The officers followed the suspects to their home at Cape Street after they collected the boxes and seized a 7.62 assault rifle, three 40-calibre pistols, three 9mm pistols, and a .22 pistol along with 85 rounds of ammunition of various calibre.
When questioned at the Criminal Investigation Department, Higgs told officers that he had agreed to collect the firearms that his cousin had shipped by courier.
In her interview, Nelson said Higgs had asked her to collect the package for him.
Defence lawyer Wendawn Miller-Frazer asked the court to show leniency as both defendants were “remorseful and redeemable”.
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