dwellers to bring drugs to the Island, a lawyer said yesterday.

Lawyer Mr. Mark Pettingill made the claim defending Keith Lockery, a 24-year-old Bronx man convicted of smuggling cocaine pellets worth $97,000 in his stomach.

"No one is concerned about using these young, impressionable and desperate men from impoverished neighbourhoods in the States, because they are expendable. We never see the real criminals,'' he said.

He added the man, who is illiterate, was unaware of the amount or value of the drugs and was ignorant of Bermuda's strict penalties against drug smugglers.

"He thought he would just be sent home if he got caught,'' Mr. Pettingill said.

Lockery, who swallowed 64 cocaine pellets was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison yesterday after pleading guilty to two charges of importing 321 grammes of the drug and possession with intent to supply.

Police, as the result of information, stopped Lockery at the Civil Air Terminal on his arrival in Bermuda on December 7, said Crown Counsel Mr. Brian Calhoun.

On the way to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital for an internal examination, Lockery admitted to Police he had ingested the drug. He said he was to be paid $2,000 for importing it.

Later that day, he excreted 64 pellets containing 78 percent pure cocaine worth a street value of $97,000.

Mr. Pettingill said Lockery, who has three children, was motivated by desperation, not greed.

He added that it was to Lockery's credit that, coming from a violent neighbourhood, he came before the court with a clean record.

"The position of the mule (courier) is different from a dealer,'' Mr.

Pettingill said. "He didn't know how much cocaine he had on him or how much it was worth in Bermuda.

"The mules don't have a clue. They don't reap the profits.'' He also noted the accused had not received payment for the job.

Before sentence was passed, Lockery, a former construction worker in New York, spoke briefly to the court.

"I'm sorry, I apologise,'' he said. "I would like to go home to my family and I will never come back here.'' Chief Justice the Hon. Mr. Justice Ward took into consideration the man's guilty plea and co-operation with the Police before sentencing Lockery to seven and half years on each count to run concurrently.