The total amount of cannabis believed to have been brought into Bermuda by yacht in a drugs plot was estimated to be worth $45 million, a prosecutor alleged in Supreme Court yesterday.

No drugs were ever found on board the sailboat , and no-one convicted of importation. Four men were acquitted earlier this year of conspiring to import cannabis.

A fifth man - Tristan La-Van Codrington - pleaded guilty to conspiracy and was yesterday sentenced to three-and-a-half years behind bars.

Speaking during the sentencing hearing, Crown Counsel Wayne Caines said information given to Police by Codrington, 23, led the Crown to come to the $45 million figure.

He gave no further details of how this had been reached and Puisne Justice Charles Etta Simmons halted his submission on the point saying it was inappropriate because no drugs had been found.

Codrington pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge in May, part-way through a seven week trial that eventually saw co-defendants Gladwyn Sherwyn Simmons, Ricardo Michael Tucker, Anthony Stanley Martin and George Leonard Lambert cleared. All had been charged with plotting with ?others unknown? to bring cannabis into Bermuda in 2004.

Yesterday, Codrington?s lawyer Rick Woolridge Jnr, attempted to have his client?s guilty plea thrown out by Mrs. Justice Simmons. He argued that no-one else had been convicted of conspiracy ? and that with no other defendants before the court it would not be possible for his client to be judged guilty of conspiracy since this cannot be done alone.

?Mr. Codrington could not have conspired with himself,? he said.

Arguing against this, Mr. Caines said Codrington had known the implications of pleading guilty, adding: ?He can?t have two bites of the cherry: plead guilty and at five minutes to midnight change his plea.?

Mrs. Justice Simmons rejected Mr. Woolridge?s application.

Proceeding to the sentencing of Codrington, Mr. Caines said a maximum sentence of ten years in prison had been suggested.

Mrs. Justice Simmons said according to a pre-sentence report, Codrington only became aware of a drugs plot while already on board ?on the high seas.?

Mr. Woolridge said his client was only 19 years old at the time and ?under the influence of men about to do something illicit.? He had no choice but to do what he did ? keep his mouth shut, argued Mr. Woolridge. He added that his client had continued his education while on remand in prison awaiting sentence, and had ambitions to continue his studies abroad upon his release.

Mrs. Justice Simmons said she agreed that Codrington had not been involved at the beginning of the conspiracy and was not involved ?at a high level.? However, she said his involvement had come in that he did not disassociate himself from the conspiracy once he had reached a point where he could have done so.

Taking the opportunity to address the judge in person, Codrington said he was sorry for taking up so much of the court?s time.

?I would also like to say that I got associated with the wrong people,? he said, adding that this would never happen again.

The court had heard from Detective Constable Alickson Severin of Bermuda Police that Bermuda-born Codrington had two previous Magistrates? Court convictions for possession of cannabis dating to 2002 and 2003, for which he was fined.

Handing him a three-and-a-half year sentence, Mrs. Justice Simmons said the time Simmons spent in jail on remand for the conspiracy offence would be taken into account.

Speaking after the hearing, Mr. Woolridge said he would launch an appeal against both his client?s conviction and his sentence.