Lawyer Charles Richardson got the same sentence he's often urged for his clients yesterday a conditional discharge for cannabis possession.

The maximum punishment a magistrate can impose for the crime is a 12-month prison sentence, a $1,000 fine, or both.

However, Bermuda's Criminal Code says a court can impose a conditional discharge "if it considers it to be in the best interests of the offender and not contrary to the public interest".

A conditional discharge means a person will not have a conviction recorded against their name as long as they don't get into further trouble during the period of the order.

Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo noted as he meted out the three-year discharge to Richardson that there's a "pattern" in Bermuda's courts of imposing them for cannabis possession in small amounts.

Magistrates can list various conditions the person must adhere to in Richardson's case they are submitting to random drug tests and refraining from drug use.

Mr. Tokunbo remarked: "That's not an easy way out and Mr. Richardson, you have appeared before the courts and advocated for these people and urged that the conditional discharge is not an easy way out."

However, he noted they are typically an option where the defendant has no previous convictions, and wishes to avoid getting one that could place them on the US immigration stop list.

Richardson is already on the stop list due to being convicted in 1993 for possessing cannabis with intent to supply. In October 2007, he was kept in a US Customs holding cell for almost 24 hours when he was on a flight to London that diverted to New York due to a faulty warning light on the plane. He told this newspaper he was "outraged" at getting arrested for illegally entering a country he'd never planned on visiting.

Explaining his rationale as he sentenced Richardson yesterday, Mr. Tokunbo said: "It's not as easy when a person has a previous conviction for a similar offence or other offences because the reason for a conditional discharge does not necessarily hold. But there can be exceptions, because the individual circumstances need to be taken into account."

In this case, he said Richardson's professional standing as a barrister and his contribution to society meant it would not be in his interest or the public interest to convict him.

Various other cases have resulted in similar punishments recently. The Royal Gazette reported in February how former national cricket and football team member Daz Simons, 21, got a 12-month conditional discharge after being found with three grams of the drug on Hermitage Road, Devonshire.

He was spotted by Police engaged in a drug transaction, but pleaded successfully against being handed a conviction that would put him on the stop list.

Earlier that month, an actuarial assistant found with 5.78 grams of marijuana was given a 12-month conditional discharge. Brian Davis, 34, a father-of-three, was caught in a Police stop-check in St. George's.

His lawyer, Jaymo Durham, argued that Davis was an upstanding citizen and a role model for all Bermudians. Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner said he was guided by Davis's professional circumstances and hard work when opting for the discharge.

A 25-year-old father who put two cannabis cigarettes in a female friend's bag when his car was pulled over on a traffic stop that month was handed a nine month conditional discharge. Che Scott also asked for leniency because he wanted to go to school and did not want to be placed on the stop list.