A commercial fishermen caught with over $48,000 worth of crack, cocaine and cannabis will soon be released from prison because his sentencing almost equalled the time he spent on remand.

Aldo Nelson Pace, 49, of North Shore Road, Hamilton Parish ? who also owns Aldo?s Carpets ? was sentenced to three years in prison in Supreme Court yesterday after he pleaded guilty to handling $3,450 worth of crack and cocaine and possessing $37,075 of cannabis with intent to supply on March 28, 2003.

Crown counsel Paula Tyndale said Police arrested Pace at Gorham?s Hardware on St. John?s Road.

When searched at Police Headquarters, a white paper napkin was found near his genitals, she said.

?It?s cocaine and crack,? Pace told Police. ?I was supposed to deliver it.?

The napkin contained 21 plastic twists containing 7.92 grams of cocaine and 14 brown twists containing 2.20 grams of free-base cocaine, or crack.

Later that day, Police obtained a warrant to search Pace?s Bailey?s bay home where two vacuum sealed bags containing a total of 724.3 grams of cannabis were seized.

?He told his wife he was arrested for picking up drugs,? Ms Tyndale said. ?He brought the drugs because the mortgage for the house was $3,500 and he needed money.?

Pace also pleaded guilty to handling $7,750 worth of cocaine on November 16, 2003 ? a mere ten days after he was charged with the first offence in Magistrates? Court.

Ms Tyndale said Police found 27.22 grams of cocaine after Pace?s white Mitsubishi jeep was pulled over on North Shore Road for a traffic offence.

The prosecutor said the maximum sentence for handling illegal drugs was life and Pace was actively participating in the drug trade.

?He has a total disregard for the detrimental effect of drugs on the community,? she said.

She recommended a range of four to eight years for the handling charges, however, offered no authorities for a sentencing range for the cannabis possession.

But defence lawyer Victoria Pearman suggested a maximum sentence of three years for possessing cannabis, adding her client has already spent 19 months at Westgate.

Ms Pearman said the courts treated drug offenders too severely but Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons disagreed.

The judge said it was not easy to see how much damage the drugs had done, or to how many people, compared to other crimes like assault.

Mrs. Justice Simmons gave Pace two, two-and-a-half year sentences for handling cocaine and for possessing cannabis on March 2003.

And she sentenced him to an additional three years for handling cocaine on November 2003, with all sentences to run concurrently and time served to be taken into consideration.

In September 2005, the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) sought to seize about $1 million of Pace?s assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act, however, the judge said yesterday she was waiting for more information until she makes her decision.

The Paces will still have to prove the means by which they have their assets ? including their businesses and home.