Drug dupes were `stupid and naive', says judge
Two men who admitted drugs offences following a raid where cannabis worth more than $100,000 was found were described as stupid and naive by a Supreme Court Judge.
Puisne Judge Norma Wade-Miller was speaking to Richard Luis Bernardo and Andrew John Sheen, at their sentencing for several drugs offences relating to a discovery of cannabis at the home they shared.
Bernardo was jailed for two years for his part in the crime and Sheen was fined a total of $1,000.
Both men apologised to their families and friends -- who sat in the public gallery at the Supreme Court -- for the trouble they had caused.
Bernardo, 33, had pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis and possession of drug equipment. He received a two-year sentence on each count, to run concurrently.
Sheen, 34, admitted possession of cannabis and cultivation of cannabis. He was fined $500 for each offence.
They had been caught after a Police raid on the apartment they lived in on Mangrove Bay Road, Sandys, in September last year.
Officers, using a search dog, found a tupperware container with marijuana inside in Bernardo's bedroom. The total weight of drugs was 7.7 grams.
In Sheen's room they found marijuana plants hidden between the mattress and base of his bed. The drug weighed 1.01 grams.
Keys found in Bernardo's bedroom opened an outside storage room. Inside they found a freezer which contained packages of plant material, and also in the room were unused envelopes and plastic bags.
The cannabis in the freezer weighed 2,090 grams, which would have had a street value of $104,500.
Before sentence was passed, Bernardo said: "I would like to apologise to the court, my family and friends for getting myself into this mess. I want to thank them for standing beside me during this -- I am sorry.'' Mrs. Justice Wade-Miller told Bernardo she had taken into account the assistance he had given the Police and the statements of various character witnesses.
"You turned a blind eye to what was happening, but you cannot escape responsibility,'' she told him. "You are a naive young man who trusted someone who no-one else would have trusted.
"You are a lucky young man. You have the support of your family and friends.
And once you have served your time your job will be waiting for you. You will be embraced back into the community.'' Sheen also apologised to his family and friends for his actions.
"I am truly sorry for what I have done, I apologise to my mother,'' he said.
Mrs. Justice Wade-Miller told him she had taken into account the mitigation, and that it was obvious the cannabis cultivated was a small quantity.
"You have clearly done a very stupid thing,'' she said.
