‘Small hustle’ costs father $5,000

A father of three who admitted that he sold marijuana as a “small hustle” because he could not find work was fined $5,000 on Friday.

Keron Henry, 29, pleaded guilty to the charge of possession of 49 grammes of marijuana before senior Magistrate Cherril-Anne Antoine.

Prosecutor PC Cleyon Seedan told the court that around 8.30 pm on Thursday, PC Surujpaul and other police were on mobile patrol along Beckles Street, North Esperance, San Fernando, when he saw Henry in the drivers’ seat of a parked car.

Surujpaul saw Henry look in the direction of the marked police vehicle, look away and began fidgeting with something.

Surujpaul stopped, told Henry that he was suspicious of his behaviour and searched him and the car. He found a black plastic bag with 23 packets of marijuana in Henry’s pants pocket.

Henry was arrested and taken to the San Fernando Police Station and charged.

In court, Antoine told him the way the drugs were packaged indicated they were for small-scale pushing.

Henry admitted he had been selling the drugs for “about a week” because he said work was very hard to find.

Although he knew it was illegal, Henry said he has three young children, a five-year-old and three-year-old twins, and needed the money. He said he made $700 during the time he was selling.

He said he recently got a job as a driver but had not been working for some time.

But Antoine told him, “If everyone sold drugs when they fall on hard times, the country would be in a sad state.”

She then fined him $5,000 or nine months’ hard labour in default.

He was given two months to pay the fine.

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"‘Small hustle’ costs father $5,000"

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