Supreme Court yesterday after pleading guilty to importing $72,000 worth of cannabis last year.

Twenty five year-old Brown, who plays for First Division club Boulevard, and resides in Crawl Hill, Hamilton Parish, committed the offence on August 8 last year.

Crown counsel Mr. Khamisi Tokumbo told the court that Brown arrived at the Civil Air Terminal on a charter flight from Jamaica.

Once inside the terminal he cleared the immigration booth and proceeded to pick up his two bags.

He was searched by Police who were at the time assisting Customs. Along with his bags, Brown was also carrying a small shoulder bag and two boxes each containing three bottles of liquor.

A label on each box indicated that it was bought duty free at the Airport in Jamaica.

But an officer was not satisfied with the way four of the ceramic bottles appeared and felt. An x-ray aroused the suspicions of the officer even further.

Police took Brown to a search room where the foil seal and cork were removed.

Plant material was packed tightly inside.

All four bottles were broken open and each found to contain two taped packages of plant material which conformed to the shape of the inside of the bottle.

When analysed the contents were found to be 1.44 kilograms of cannabis worth $72,000.

Brown denied all knowledge of the drugs, saying he bought the liquor at the airport in Jamaica. However, a Police check dispelled this story as liquor cannot be bought at the Jamaican airport and Customs records showed that no liquor was arranged for his departure date.

Later, on November 19, 1993, he admitted his involvement along with other persons, although no other arrests were made as a result of the information.

Defence lawyer Mr. John Cooper said someone else had provided Brown with the bottles and that he was just transporting them for a fee of $10,000.

Mr. Cooper said his client was a father of two small children and was expecting a third child in June.

"He takes his responsibility very seriously, though he lost his job at the Corporation of Hamilton after his arrest and he has not been employed regularly since then.'' Referring to another case where a man was sentenced to six years for importing 4.06 kg of cannabis, Mr. Cooper said Brown's case dealt with one third of that amount.

Mr. Cooper asked that the time he had already spent in custody, along with his guilty plea and cooperation with Police should be taken into account, and that a lesser sentence was in order since he was not trying to import one of the harder drugs such as cocaine or heroin.

Chief Justice the Hon. Mr. Justice Ward, before passing sentence, said he had taken into account Brown's cooperation with Police, his guilty plea and the fact that he was not the main conspirator.

He then imposed a prison sentence of three years, nine months with time already spent in custody to be taken into account.