Russel Vigilant of Grand Bay was charged $611,000 for unlawful cultivation of cannabis and possession of the drug when he appeared in the Roseau Magistrate Court this morning.
Police reported that Vigilant was caught on a marijuana plantation that contained 3,368 plants of the drug and which spanned some 5,000 square feet.
According to court reports, on the morning of July 28 the police drug squad, dressed in military fatigue, was on patrol on Petite Coulibri Estate in the heights of Grand Bay when they came across Vigilant tending his crops.
“Officer, I am a ganja farmer,” he said when approached by police.
During his court appearance Vigilant kept shaking his head while chanting “Jah” silently to himself. He pleaded guilty to the charges.
“Ganja farmers pay heavily you know,” Magistrate Ozzie Lewis, who presided over the matter, told the defendant. “You cannot be blatantly cultivating this thing. You were competing for the largest plantation on the island or what?”
Vigilant, who was not represented by counsel, is expected to pay $100,000 forthwith or spend eight months in prison. The remaining $511,000 is expected to be paid by January 2012 or the defendant will spend two years behind bars.
I am appalled at the level some Dominicans will go to bring down another poor man trying to start his own small business without bank loans or government handouts. No jobs in DA man trying to make ends meet. It’s a travesty to demand that the man pay such a huge amount of money when he did not even get to generate revenue from his investment. This is a clear indication of jealousy and malcontent that is endemic in our culture as a people. Rather than help the man utilize this for legitimate reasons and infiltrate the international market and give DA recognition as the proud producers of organically grown cannabis (can be used for health treatment, eco-friendly products etc..) and an alternative to the failing banana industry, we take from the poor innocent farmer to lace the pockets of those who purport to enforce the law. Masa day truly not done!…..this man is Dominica are you?
Rosselle that is what the judge did to you? of my holy cobwed. They crazt down in Dominica.While American debating to legalized Marijuana they charging you all that money. You could hardly buy a suzuki to put on your feet, and he quoting half a million you have all the rights to say Jah. Man just serve your time and try it again in three years people wait ten years for a green card you will succeed. Next time plant it close to the grand bay police station they will not notice it.
let justice prevail for all not only the poor
Is this judge serious? someone please tell me that this was just courtroom humor.I do not live in Dominica but i always make sure to catch up on the news and whats going on in the country.Fining someone this amount of money is very much ridiculous.Sometimes i wonder if some of these judges went to a proper law school,because their fines and sentencing are rather crazy. You commit a far greater crime and the accused gets a light sentence or even gets away with it. you get caught with marijuana and are fined crazy amounts.I do not condone the selling or cultivation of weed but there are far more dangerous drugs out there that should be looked into and given a harsher penalty. If you are going to fine me all this money for something that is natural and off this earth,then i would rather serve the time.
That is just pure crap, rubbish by this judge to charge a man all this $$$$$$$$$ for a natural herb. I’m not condoning what happened but the penalty i just rediculous and abserd. I am not a smoker of weed or a drug user of any kind but personally I don’t see the use of sending policemen in the bush to destroy a plant God created. There are far more contructive things the policemen can go do. Instead they could have the policemen cut the grass on the road side in the early mornings.
Legalize it and tax it!!!! I would choose the time in prison at 250k per year.
Luke11:46 And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.
wonder wa dey do wit all tha herbs!!
My advice to the young man if it is humanly possible that you have that type of money,dont be ever tempted to pay that fine,let the government FEED,HOUSE & CLOTHE you if that is their decision.Incidentally, is a mere majistrate empowered to hand down such a fine,I was of the opinion that fines of such proportion could only be issued by a HIGH COURT judge,these pseudo legal eagles are out of their depth, even granting bail to murderers
I am ashamed of Ozzie Lewis. I thought the man had more of an idea of what is going on. EVERYBODY …or almost everybody around here smokes their zeb.
The resources are so wrongly placed. And don’t pay a cent. let the country support you for a while garcon
I guess the government need money to finish skerrit palace.I would not pay shit.this plant was created by GOD for a reason,I guess Holland was the smartest to legalise it.grand bay get soft man.
Dominica have more important crimes to fight than cannabis growing. What about child abuse, rape,stealing and murder and arson.Get rid of all those lawyers, and return to the ways of old when the elders determines cases. English and American society is not Dominican.
his own fault. He should have gone out, kill white tourists and rob them, that goes unpunished in Dominica. (of course since all police are busy hunting farmers)
Can I, too, spend 2 years in prison and get $500,000 for that? (the rate at which a fine is converted to prison time is really noteworthy)
Stubid comment janie…dat’s not funny. No referrence to killing anyone, point can be made in a sobre/better way and have more effect.
all this money for some weed come on this is what makes pple go mad and do things until they go crazy,,, thats is pure rubbish, we have free soil so by now they should be legalizing weed,,,,, if the police dont us to plant weed then provide jobs for us,,,,, this gov’t has no moral wat a shame!!!!,, leave us grandbarians alone eh
Soooh true.
Some ah ganja planter but this here man ah ganja Farmer – gwan mi brova! I just hope you had the good stuff and had time sell some, I would buy an ounce or two uno
See Amsterdam. Smoke until you are high as a kite. To me legalizing it is the only way. Weed been round too long. And Mr Russell Thats too much money take your jail.
DNO ADMIN : Petite Coulibri is NOT in GrandBay! When JFK and his wife spent their vacation at Petite Coulibri, which is in the parish of St. Mark, Grandbay didnt get the praise or attention so don’t attach the drug bust to Grandbay.
There is a location in Grandbay known as Grand Coulibri , which is different than the mentioned location. Petite Coulibri is actually 8.1 km away from Grandbay. Just my 2 cents !
It is not fair to ask him to pay that kind of money.If he had that amount of money he would have no reason to cultivate the herb. the time and efort he put into tending to the plants should be recognised as hard work and should be given the chance to cultivate vegetables or fruits,sell it and give some of the money to a school to educate kids in the agricultural curriculum.Much Love. love.
HE LUCKY.they should have charged him more and still send him to jail for life.DO U ALL KNOW HOW MANY LIVES THIS MAN MAY HAVE DESTROYED WITH THIS FOOLISH DRUG THEY CALL MARIJUANA.nobody should feel sorry for him.all you not feeling sorry for the paros in roseau.
There were no paros in Roseau in the 70’s up to the early 80’s. Is only when coke and crack came into D/a. Paros is a relative new word that came about to describe coke/crack heads.
They don’t like to smoke marijuana, they only drink rum and other such drugs. So…get your facts straight.
whoever u are is best u go and get something to do with ur life or go hang ur self…dem judges to dam uncivilised……my brother just be strong and take ur jail da not nothing u will rise…make dem spend de money and feed u in jail instead
MJ is a plant/herb which was created by JAH/God. You need to focus on drugs like Alcohol, Coke, Heroine, Ecstasy & all the others I could tell you about but you wouldn’t even believe they exist … Leave the man plant his weed yeh, ganja is the healing of the nation!
Dominicans half a million for ganjah please.and six months for child molesters,killers and rapes please this Island is clueless on laws,and the court,lawyers,judges and government are a bunch of idiots and dum***.no wonder crimes go free.ganjah please.the judge should go smoke some maybe then he or she would make a better ruling.
JAH deliver us from d hands of d wicked
I would save my money and smile all the way to jail.This is outragious there is no way on Gods EARTH i would pay that kind of money.There are people commting muder and getting a slapped on the risk.there are peaple cimmiting treason in this country and getting away free .There are peaple commiting arson are getting away free.What is wrong with us in this country.We are following America by wanting to legalze BUGGARING.WE should follow america and legalize the ganga .This would be a better way to go.WOE WOE WOE ON U MR OSSIE LEWIS.YOU HAVE NO HEART.I hope when GOD WILL CHARGE U FOR YOUR ACTIONS U WILL BE ABLE TO DEEP IN YOUR BUCKET OF INJUSTICE AND PAY 4 YOUR SINS.WICKED MAN
They soon to legalize Borgaring homosexuality in D/a, why not legalize Marijuana while they are at it!?
I m. Not encouraging ganga but they police men Can do better there have so many robbery in the country
jail them all! spoiling people kids….
thats a shame that you would charge a man all that money for weed when all you take it all fr him and this young woman kill her kids and she is scot free what kind of justice system we have in dominica huh its unfair to us weed is not drugs cocaine is why not just leave that man with his weed if he smoke all is still him who ever he sell to and they smoke it is still them you all need to jail people for rum to cause am telling you rum is a bad drug and and cause big problem not weed how many times have you heard or see a man go to court for something stupid and say weed cause me to do it only rum man does that
Thats BRUTAL !!
So sad the way our people experience injustice. When what happened to this woman who killed her two kids?? This is just pure wickedness.
Man take your jail- when you get out you will have no loan to pay.
No matter how we cry bawl and run our mouth on dno, this will not change the law, because there is no real ethical people in places of power. They have their views, and we have ours.
I saying that eh, but I so wish someone with the power come along and prove me wrong!!and show us what a real leader and world changer is. I dare someone to step up.
But how the hell Ozzie expect d man to pay that kinda ridiculous fine wen he takin away his means of income…chupessssss only in DA buddy
AND MURDERERS ROAMING FREE ON THE STREETS.
This is not right for being so hard on a brother in a Ganga farm.this is not even a drug yet..Government got to fix dem stupid laws.He was not shiping or selling on the streets.destroy the farm and educate the brother on what he doing is maybe wrong.we too fast putting our people in jail for soft crimes.
russle thats just how the system is,man in the eye of jah you are clean,planting ganga is not a crime in the eye of jah,you did not kill,rape,steal,etc.brother be strong time will tell,all the money for seedlings but cocain is chicken feed,ossie i hope your time infront jah jah soo n come.
I say legalize it pretty soon i prison at stockfarm is gonna be full of people cougth with ganja, useing the tax payers money . i say legalize the herb its a natural herb it will grow in dominica , any where cus of the fertile soil so legalize it.
THEY WANNA LEGALIZE
FAGGISM 
IN THE CARIBBEAN BUT YET STILL CHARGE A HUMAN MORE THAT HALF A MILLION DOLLAR FOR PLANTING MEDICINE WHICH THEY CLAIM THAT IS ILLEGAL LOL…WELL U ALL SHOULD SHUT DOWN ALL THE PHARMACIES…OOOPS I FORGET IT SELLS LEGAL DRUGS/MEDICINE THAT CAN BE TAXED.PHARMACIES PRAY FOR HUMANS TO BE SICK SO THEY CAN MAKE PROFITS HEHEHEHEH WHAT A WICKED SYSTEM SET BY THE 1ST WORLD HEADS.
WHILE ENGLAND WILL GIVE U A WARNING FOR A SPLIFF,DOMINICA CHARGES U $500 GO UP FOR A SPLIFF TAIL/ROACH…..BUT WE STILL UNDER THE WESTMINISTER SYSTEM…SMH WELL WELL WELL
“Ganja farmers pay heavily you know,” Magistrate Ozzie Lewis said; and attempted murderers pay nothing as in armstrong case. WOW.
Recent developments in our legal system are totally incomprehensible. The activities conducted by people in authority, to say the least, is literally tantamount to day-light robbery; yet it is easier for a Camel to pass through the eye of a needle than them being asked one question by the Police. Ossie man, the cataclysmic failure of Dominica’s justice system is what one can correctly label as a ‘colossal travesty of injustice’. A packet of crackers, hair-braiding and other innocuous acts of malfeasance are almost certain to land a ‘connectionless’ person in jail. Attempts are being made to justify homosexuality on the grounds that “whatever two consenting adults do in the privacy of their bedroom is their business”. What about one man cultivating a natural plant, a herb…. in the bushes …. on the privacy of his ‘estate’? Half a million dollars for what? Recently, some Venezuelans were chased by the police in our waters …. Throwing ‘boxes’ (sa ki boxes) into the sea and they were given a slap on the wrist and released. Ah magway say…. Injustice never dies! That is why on day ‘Dominica will talk’.
Ease up on de big words there bredren/sisdren. Ya going ova the top to make your point, and though I agree with the general content of ya reasoning, I completely disagree with ya inclusion of the homosexuality analogy. It seems off topic to me, it is a social/religious issue as compared to the injustice of our justice system here in DA. Lets continue to raise our voices to that. Jah Bless.
Ganja, ganja, ganja , ganja…………
If you doh want to call it that, call it Marijuana, If you you doh want to call it that, call it Sensimellia……
whether you burn it in a chalice or a sheet of paper
Lord, me love me Ganja
LEGALIZE THE HERB
Dominica on a whole need Spiritual Healing/Cleansing, Grand Bay is not the only village what about Possie, St Joe, and the rest, We Shall Overcome Some Day
PEOPLE THAT COMMITTE MURDER IN DOMINICA NOT EVEN GETTING THAT KIND OF FINE…I WOULD TAKE THE JAIL RATHER THAN PAY THAT KINDA OF MONEY….PADNER TAKE UR 2YRS AND SAVE UR LIL CHANGE THAT U HAVE…GO STOCKY AND EAT 3 MEALS A DAY DOH GIVE THEM PPL ALL THAT MONEY
$611,000 or 3 years jail………i taking that any day,, y not 10yrs jail. soom this man will be out with twice that amount of plantsd
Had it been another village would it have been the same.. Marijuana is medicine in America and Grand-Bay villager is being charged all that money??? Man take your jail and tell d judge go suck on something…
if it was me i telling ossie he not getting a dollar from me so start my jail time a.s.a.p.
Ganja farmers pay heavily, but other high white collar criminals don’t pay at all. They would have to put contempt of coUrt untop that for me we, at least ill go up with my chest empty.
but wait awhile nuh magistrate…611 000$ divided by 2yrs is 25 458$ a month…
where is the man suppose to get this kinda money from? thats a nice way of saying
You are going to jail!
Plant more weed nuh!!! U not seeing the people at the top disconnected from the poor souls. They cannot fathom what it is to live on 800 or sometimes 400 a month, look at what PWC going through this july monthend AGAIN!! Boy plant more weed eh.
dem police does take it to blaze
BTW, how do they count the trees? Are they multiplying length by width by number of ‘beds’? Just curious!!
I going jail insted!!!!!!!!!!!
All that money?
mi ah take di 2years
trust me..all da money n that lil time..i takin d time n wit good behavior u even comin out early
This Ganja laws need to be changed. There is movement towards decriminalizing Ganja in the US and Europe. If you go back to history it was the US that brought about the prohibition laws against ganja to the UN. Now that they are realizing it is not what they portrayed it to be, states like colarado and california have systems in place to license growers and tax the sale of weed. I wonder when will the rest of the world esp. our caribbean gov’t see that it is crazy to put sound minded healthy citizens in jail for Ganja. A plant used in its purest form. I can almost guarantee that when it becomes fully legal in the US it will still be illegal in the islands. That is how we run it.
think of it this way:
if the cultivation of ganga is legalized, the rich will get richher and the poor will get poorer.
who controls the plantations? rich
Who owns the means of production? rich
who have the most influence? rich
and i can go on and on… just think it!
You have to be kidding me. What happen to all those high class voleur? They get off with slap on the wrist. The ganga did not go anywhere. The plantation was destroyed. It does not compare to the ready to use coke that is being found. Why do we always make an example of poorer people? Some people try to kill a man and his wife last christmas. What happen to them? Keep throwing the book at the wrong people. That is why our society is so warped. People who kill people get lesser charges.
so surprised that the shooter from Possi is in less trouble than the planter
Well said agree with you , only in DA, shame, shame, DA law,laughing stock of the world, firearm is a deadly weapon man on bail for peanuts, the law in DA shocks too much conflict of interest in this island, as the saying goes is not what you have is who you know, personally i would accept the jail time, this is outrageous
Amstrong, we know you were framed. Don’t worry my boy. They want to blame you for everything. The damn victim doh even see you shoot him. Nobody saw. Police just have for the boy no wonder none of the cases against him go anywhere
thats nothing he can pay that in a week 2 shipment done gone out already expecting big returns
OMG
the law of the land and the law of god is not one and the same so not because the man plant ganja he going hell when allu shoting ppl in the name of justice
all tht money in that short space of time?… create no jobs and then fight the poor peoples cause? you lock off the employment and still lock off our means, the poor more doh must cry “JAH”
$45000 for shooting another human being!
I can not understand that!!!
The $45,000 if I’m not mistaken was for bail, not as punishment for the crime. The case has not been called yet.
Wayla Russel ka pon largent en bas zor. Only if all u let him go and sell d ganja first and he will bring the money for all u to put in all u fat pockets.
…the same country that have them destroying people and ganja legalising as medicine and hemp clothing. Their CIA are the main distributors while peddling coke through the Caribbean. They dare not stop opium in Afghanistan, as a matter of fact the governments of these so called developed countries are investing in opium farmers, cash and amununitions for protection. Black people wake up.
Coke dealers running free and gangja farmer getting heavy fines. Ossie Lewis need a reality check
$611,000 Vs. 3 years..thats tough..But 3 years in jails is 1 years 6 months PLUS if you get a reduction for good behaviour….nah..i will take the 1.5 years …I think also i will take that 1.5 years and learn how to cultivate my farm in my basement wii…what them man doing in bush high up so nah…lol in military fatigues too wii….is war they was planning on man me in my farm how many men in camo…Jah!!!!
Russell darling, this is not the best state to be in. I pray God be with you and hope you take some time out to reflect. Year in year out you all see this is not the best route to take; yet there goes another handsome young and strong man behind bars.
This road leads to hardship. I always wonder why our young men do not want to till the soil and plant things that are legal.. less problems for you.
I was going to answer, but ill let you figure that out for yourself. Or maybe someone else will share it with u, u just came to dominica man??? Welcome…
Russell, God be with you. This is certainly not the road to success. There is too much pain that comes with it.. the ride is much too risky!!! I just wish our young men would go back to tilling the soil like it used to be in the not-too-long-ago days.
2 Sharon & Annoymous: you wish ” our young men would go back to tilling the soil”? but is toil he was tilling. Ganja is still a plant last time I checked.
I would take the jail first whether I had the money or not. One word for that UTTER RUBBISH! How come Ossie not throwing the Venezuelan COCAINE pushers in jail? hypochrite. Is give them back their boat and money and even breakfast. Dominica police too damn lazy. Coke pushers right there infront of them in Roseau they in bush hustling weed.
Right now in Grand Bay where food used to be in abundance especially bananas this is no more,alot of people in that community now if they have to eat they’ve got to buy.There is hardly any young farmer except for ganga farmers,and the lifestyle they create in that village with all this illicit activities is equivalent to Nenevah as one Grandbarian once said to me.Nenevah is the country JAH asked Jonah to go preach because of their wicked ways and he did not want to go.That community needs a spiritual cleansing
AMEN… WELL SAID.!
good point
U can til as much as u want, but when u can get no subsidy till harvest, and no guarantee of a market or demand. And u have kids to send to school, bills to pay and I won’t go on……… Have u ever been a farmer?? My brother is one, and I personally could not take that miseh there eh boSs, that’s why I left the family trade, alas for who has no other alternative.