Montego Bay vendor fined for ganja in clothes basket

Christopher Thomas, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

A female vendor of a Montego Bay address in St James, who hid four ounces of ganja, which was divided into 40 packages, in a clothes basket at her home was convicted and fined $1,200 in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.

Forty-four-year-old Verona McFarlane of Catherine Hall in Montego Bay pleaded guilty to possession of and dealing in ganja when she appeared before Resident Magistrate Sandria Wong-Small.

The court was told that during an operation in the Catherine Hall community in late September, the police team, which was in search of contraband, searched several homes, including one occupied by McFarlane.

While meticulously going through various items in the house, the lawmen stumbled upon a suspicious bag, which was stashed inside a clothes basket belonging to McFarlane. A search of the bag turned up the ganja, which was wrapped in small packages.

When the discovery was brought to McFarlane's attention, she reportedly told the lawmen, "Officer, times hard and my daughter have to go to school." She was subsequently arrested and charged.

"What were you doing with 40 packages of ganja?" Wong-Small asked McFarlane, who looked somewhat confused.

"Forty packages?" muttered McFarlane, in a tone which was still loud enough for the judge to hear.

"The clerk said that the ganja was found in 40 packages, and I know that it was for selling," said Wong-Small. "So what were you doing with 40 packages of ganja?"

"Selling them, Your Honour," McFarlane said as she looked down remorsefully.

Prior to handing down her sentence, the judge was told that on a previous occasion, the defendant had paid a $1,500 fine in the Petty Session Court for fighting.

McFarlane was ordered to pay a fine of $400, or spend 30 days in jail, for possession of ganja; and $800, or 30 days, for dealing in ganja. She was also told to submit her fingerprints to the police.