A water trucker was sentenced to 3½ years behind bars yesterday for stashing more than $200,000 of cannabis in his home.

Clienty Butterfield, a 36-year-old father of six, pleaded guilty earlier this year to two charges of possessing cannabis with intent to supply, although he said that he had purchased the drugs for $500 to help him deal with pain caused by a medical condition. The court heard that Butterfield was stopped by police while driving along Spring Benny Road in Sandys on the evening of October 30 last year.

During a search, officers discovered a bag containing four twists of plant-like material and $230 in cash.

Asked about the twists, he told the officers: “It’s just a little poke.”

Later that evening, police searched his Woodlawn Road, Sandys home. Inside the kitchen they found a glass jar, which was later found to contain around 534g of cannabis.

The officers also discovered a duffel bag in his bedroom which contained four plastic packages of plant material. Tests found the packages to contain just over 4,000g of the drug.

In a subsequent police interview, Butterfield said that the cannabis found was his, but said it was for his own personal use.

He said that he had purchased the drugs from an unknown person for $500 to help him deal with the pain caused by his sickle cell anaemia, although he would occasionally share some with his friends for free.

During a sentencing hearing yesterday, prosecutor Loxly Ricketts said that the drugs seized, if sold on the streets of Bermuda in half gram twists, could fetch around $230,000.

Based on the quantity of drugs seized Mr Ricketts argued that the drugs were not just for personal use. While he noted Butterfield’s early guilty plea and his lack of previous offences, the prosecutor said the defendant had shown little remorse and had attempted to minimise the severity of the offence while a social inquiry report was carried out.

Mr Ricketts said a sentence of between three and five years in prison would be appropriate in all of the circumstances, but defence lawyer Dantae Williams suggested that any jail time could be suspended given Butterfield’s personal circumstances.

He described his client as a hard-working father battling a serious medical condition who turned to cannabis to treat his pain.

“There are times when he needs help to get out of his bed,” Mr Williams said. “The effect of the sickle cell has on him is a serious effect and many times it’s actually a grave effect.

“This isn’t an excuse to do something illegal, but he did use cannabis as a method to decrease the pain.”

Asked if Butterfield had been prescribed drugs to manage his pain, Mr Williams said his client had found the prescribed drugs had “serious side-effects”.

He added: “The pain that he was in was the reason he resorted to cannabis to alleviate the pain, not with standing that it’s a controlled drug.”

Butterfield himself apologised to the court for his actions.

Acting Justice Juan Wolffe said that based on the facts of the case a custodial sentence was appropriate, and that Butterfield’s personal circumstances were not enough to suspend such a sentence.

He sentenced Butterfield to 3½ years in prison for the drugs found in his bedroom and six months for the drugs discovered in his kitchen, ordering that both sentences run concurrently.

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