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Jordan Marshall, 29, of The Morne St. Joseph, has been ordered by the court to pay $7,500.00 following his guilty plea to cultivation of 1,352 plants of cannabis.<\/p>\n
Marshall appeared in court along with his brothers Shanly Marshall and Linson Marshall who were all jointly charged however the two others pleaded not guilty to the charge.<\/p>\n
According to the facts of the case, on February 9, 2022, Constable Lambert Hilaire of the Commonwealth of Dominica Police Force (CDPF) applied for and obtained a search warrant to search the premises of Lipson Marshall, where Jordan Marshall of The Morne St. Joseph resides, for Cannabis.<\/p>\n
The following day at 4:30 a.m., members of the Drug Squad and Task Force including Constable Hilaire, dressed in Battle Dress Uniform (BDU), adequately equipped themselves with service pistols and rifles and they all left Police Headquarters to execute the warrant.<\/p>\n
On arrival at The Morne in St. Joseph, the officers approached the premises and met Linson, standing on the entrance steps. Constable Hilaire identified himself to Linson and informed him of the search warrant. The Officers then entered the building via the front door of the ground and top floor to ensure that the building was cleared. Whilst doing so, Jordan and Shanly were met on separate floors and Constable Hilaire again informed them of his intent to search the premises and showed them the search warrant.<\/p>\n
In the presence of the defendants, Constable Hilaire commenced searching room one on the ground floor and noticed what appeared to be an indoor nursery of Cannabis. The Constable further noticed three wooden stands containing fifteen black seedling trays which were electrically wired and partially covered with clear plastic and what appeared to be cannabis plants in each stand.<\/p>\n
The constable also noticed what appeared to be a mist blower which at the time was functioning and keeping the plants fresh by the steam vapor.<\/p>\n
The search continued in room number two and the Constable noticed one stand containing eight trays which was electrically wired and partially covered with clear plastic and what appeared to be more cannabis plants in each tray.<\/p>\n
On the northern side of the premises Constable Hilaire also saw more cannabis being cultivated with lights which were sourced from the house via solar panels to give light to the cultivation.<\/p>\n
In the presence of the defendants, Constable Hilaire uprooted the cultivation of cannabis which amounted to one hundred and thirty (130) plants and randomly took seven plants and placed them in an empty nylon bag.<\/p>\n
The Officer then informed the men that it is an offense to cultivate more than three Cannabis plants and as a result they were arrested for this offense.<\/p>\n
Jordan replied \u201call what that there is mines\u201d and his brothers Shanly and Linson made no\u00a0reply.<\/p>\n
The 23 trays containing the alleged cannabis plants along with the seven plants which were placed in a nylon bag and the defendants were transported to Police Headquarters.<\/p>\n
At the Drug Squad Office, in the defendants’ presence, Constable Hilaire counted the alleged cannabis plants in the trays which amounted to 1,222 plants.<\/p>\n
Later that day, some samples were sent to the Government analyst for testing and tested positive for cannabis.<\/p>\n
The Marshall brothers were formally charged for cultivation of cannabis which the police said amounted to 72.75 pounds.<\/p>\n
At the court hearing, Defense attorney, Gina Abraham-Thomas who represented the accused disputed the police claims that the drugs weighed 72.75 pounds as she said the cannabis plants were never weighed.<\/p>\n
She further told the court that Jordan was a father of a 3 and a 9-year-old and had no previous convictions.<\/p>\n
Abraham-Thomas further stated, due to incidents which occurred in 2018, 2019, and 2022, Jordan was left disabled now has \u201ciron in his legs and from time to time suffers from pain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis disability prevents him from being gainfully employed,\u201d she said. But in response Magistrate Michael Laduat cautioned that one’s [physical condition] should not be an excuse for them breaking the law.<\/p>\n
The attorney further pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy as according to her, \u201cat 29, this gentleman has had his fair share of challenges and setbacks. He is remorseful for having found himself in such a situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The penalty for cultivation of cannabis is a fine of $100,000.00 or three times the street value or three months in prison.<\/p>\n
In handing down his sentence, Magistrate Michael Laudat said he must deviate from the sentencing guideline as the prosecution had not presented the accurate weight of the drugs to the court.<\/p>\n
He said he had taken into consideration the defendant’s family ties, his age and his disposition, the public\u2019s interest in the matter\u00a0 as well as the fact that Jordan\u00a0 pleaded guilty to the offense at the first opportunity not wasting the court\u2019s time.<\/p>\n
He was then fined $7,500.00 in three part payment of $1,500.00 by June 30, 2022, $2,000.00 by December 31, 2022 and $4,000.00 by October 31, 2023.<\/p>\n
If he fails to make any payment he will be imprisoned for six months.<\/p>\n
The prosecution offered no evidence against Shanly and Linson hence their cases were dismissed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jordan Marshall, 29, of The Morne St. Joseph, has been ordered by the court to pay $7,500.00 following his guilty plea to cultivation of 1,352 plants of cannabis. Marshall appeared in court along with his brothers Shanly Marshall and Linson…","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":281217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,235,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-281215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-court-law","category-homepage-carousel","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n