A man who embroiled his innocent 88-year-old grandmother in a plot to import more than $100,000-worth of heroin has been jailed for 17 years.

Sentencing Barry Eugene Rahman, 40, Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons said he posed a danger to Bermudian society where people are held hostage by the fear of drug-related crime.

"The court must step up to the challenge and impose such sentences to give notice that drug dealing in all its guises will not be tolerated. This court will not shrink from its duty to protect society," she warned.

Rahman was convicted by a jury in December of conspiring with others not before the court to import the drugs into Bermuda. A courier box addressed to him was intercepted by Police at LF Wade International Airport on August 29, 2006.

It contained light bulbs, and two heat-sealed bags containing 108.92 grams of heroin with a street value of $105,880.

Police teamed up with courier company DHL to deliver the package to Rahman's address in East Shore Road, Sandys, after accounting for the drugs inside. His innocent grandmother accepted it on his behalf.

Rahman was subsequently arrested and his home searched, with Police discovering $43,350 cash behind dresser drawers in a room he shared with his brothers.

During his Supreme Court trial, the jury heard the self employed landscaper claim he was only accepting the package on behalf of a friend.

However, during yesterday's sentencing hearing, Senior Crown counsel Carrington Mahoney argued that one of the aggravating features of the offence was: "He abused his position of trust by asking his 88-year-old grandmother to accept the package, knowing it contained heroin and exposing her to the risk of arrest."

Mr. Mahoney said the maximum sentence for the crime is life imprisonment, and a $1 million fine.

He also pointed out that people who import heroin can expect a 50 percent higher sentence than for other controlled drugs.

Rahman was jailed for five years in 1990 for importing and possessing cannabis.

Bearing in mind the circumstances, said Mr. Mahoney, the Crown wished to see him jailed for 18 to 20 years.

"I would say that's being kind to him my lady," he told Mrs. Justice Simmons, pointing out that the offence of conspiracy attracts an additional ten years behind bars on top of the sentence for straightforward importation.

Therefore, he said, Rahman could actually be handed up to 35 years in Westgate.

Defence lawyer Edward Bailey said pre-sentence reports described his client as a "quiet, unassuming individual" who maintains that he was only accepting the package for a friend.

However, Mrs. Justice Simmons responded: "Who, in this day and age, agrees to accept a package without making an inquiry?

"I won't even go and accept a package if I'm not expecting a package.

"You have to be living under a rock not to know the dangers of accepting a package without making an inquiry."

Mr. Bailey also told the court the defendant is not "a kingpin" in the drugs industry. Rahman declined the opportunity to speak in his own defence.

Meting out the sentence, the judge said: "In your case there are no mitigating factors.

"You may not be a kingpin but you are an experienced drug dealer who used his aged grandmother in the scheme."