next 37 months in US Federal prison a judge in Miami has ordered.

The son of Progressive Labour Party MP Neletha Butterfield, he is understood to have been transferred to a facility in the New York/New Jersey area.

Butterfield faced a maximum of 40 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to importing 100 grams of heroin at Miami International Airport from Jamaica on May 24 last year.

Butterfield, 32, of West Park Lane, Pembroke, was originally charged with four counts of importing and possessing heroin and cocaine.

The other counts have been dismissed against Butterfield who was represented by a public defender.

Upon his release from the custody of the Bureau of Prisons in three years time, Butterfield will be handed over to Immigration and Naturalization Service agents who are expected to deport him home.

Butterfield will only be allowed to enter the US in the future with the permission of the Attorney General or a representative of the Justice Department.

He has also been sentenced to a consecutive term of three years of "supervised release'' or probation but the deportation would nullify that part of the sentence.

Joan Lenard, US District Court Judge of the Southern District of Florida also ordered that Butterfield take drug and alcohol counselling while in prison.

The sentence concludes a deal Butterfield struck with the Justice Department granting eligibility for a reduction in prison time in return for cooperation with law enforcement agents.