yesterday netted a three-year prison term.

Trevor Donovan Simons, 30, of Eastdale Lane, Warwick, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to three counts of supplying cocaine in Warwick.

Simons' case was part of a covert operation called Cleansweep involving local Police officers and American Drug Enforcement Administration agents.

This part of the operation focused on Ord Road, near Lines Food and Liquor store, in Warwick.

Crown counsel Brian Calhoun said Simons approached an American undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent on Ord Road and sold him 0.43 grams of 91 percent pure cocaine for $50 on April 15 of this year.

On April 18, around 4.18 p.m., Simons approached another undercover DEA agent on Ord Road and sold him a 0.25 grams of 90 percent pure cocaine for $50.

And at 4.56 p.m. on April 24, Simons approached a third undercover DEA agent and sold him a total of 0.38 grams of 95 percent pure cocaine for $100.

Simons, a self-employed painter, was arrested by Police on June 10.

Noting that this was the first Cleansweep case to be brought before the Supreme Court, Mr. Calhoun could only outline the sentencing patterns in Magistrates' Court -- where most of the cases have been handled.

"The approximate average is two-and-a-half-years for these cases in Magistrates' Court,'' he said. "This will be the first Supreme Court sentencing in one of these cases.'' And he told Chief Justice Austin Ward that Operation Cleansweep was just part of the ongoing struggle to regain control of Bermuda's streets.

"This is a drug supermarket operation,'' he added.

But Simon's lawyer Julian Hall urged Mr. Justice Ward to impose a non-custodial sentence, noting the low quantity of drugs involved and the fact that his client had no previous convictions.

"He pleaded guilty, thus saving the court the expense of a trial,'' Mr. Hall pointed out. "And he's been in custody all of these months since his arrest.

"He has had time to start thinking about the rest of his life,'' he added.

"He wants a chance and should be given a chance to mend his ways.'' But Mr. Justice Ward said Simons' actions showed a disregard for youngsters who might witness the public transactions.

Mr. Justice Ward ordered Simons to spend three years in prison for each count.

The sentences will run concurrently with time spent in custody to be taken into account.