A father-of-one caught smuggling almost $59,000 worth of cannabis into Bermuda was yesterday jailed for three years.

Tyshaon Palmer Rawlins, 24, was convicted by a unanimous jury of bringing eight slabs of the drug in on a JetBlue flight from New York on June 2.

The construction worker had denied charges of drug importation and possession with intent to supply during his trial in October.

Prosecutor Takiyah Burgess told Supreme Court yesterday that he hid 1,174.1 grams — or about 26 lbs — of cannabis in the lining of his case, with a street value of $58,700. It was discovered by customs officials who X-rayed his luggage.

Ms Burgess said the amount was considerable and the defendant was wholly to blame.

She urged Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves to issue a sentence which would send a strong message to the community that such crimes would not be tolerated.

Ken Savoury, mitigating, described his client as a hardworking young man who had held down a job since the age of 16 and had no previous convictions.

"He is not a criminally minded person and it was not his intention to get rich quickly without hard work by becoming involved with the drug trade," said Mr. Savoury.

"He is the father of a four-year-old son who he supported right up until the day of his conviction."

The defence lawyer said Rawlins became unwittingly involved in the importation of drugs into the Island because he had a tendency to be "gullible and naive". He said the cannabis was seized before it reached the community.

Mr. Savoury said the jail term imposed should not be a lengthy one. "The community does not have to be protected from him," he added. "The drugs were cannabis and no harm was caused to society."

Before he was sentenced, Rawlins, of West Avenue, Sunnyside Park, Southampton, said: "I'd just like to apologise to the courts and Bermuda. I promise this won't happen again."

Mr. Justice Greaves said he would normally have considered five years an appropriate jail term for such offences but that there were many mitigating factors in this case.

He said the fact that Rawlins had held down a job since his teens, provided for his child and stayed away from crime previously, despite a troubled upbringing, was an "exceptional achievement" in today's climate.

"This is a young man... who has been virtually on his own since he was 15 or 16, renting his own apartment and providing for himself with no evidence of any criminal activity whatsoever. He was able to do that without any proper education."

He gave Rawlins three years in prison for each charge, to run concurrently and with time already spent in custody to be taken into account.

The jail term will be followed by three years of probation. "If you breach the probation you will go back to jail for up to two years," the judge warned Rawlins.