WESTERN BUREAU:
SOLOMON CARGILL, pastor of a Pentecostal church in Old Harbour, St. Catherine, faces the next 13 months in jail after he was found guilty of attempting to export more than five pounds of ganja in a guitar on Friday. He was fined a total of $58,800 after pleading "guilty with explanation."
Cargill denied knowledge of the drugs in the guitar case, telling the court that he was taking the instrument to a friend in England who had left it at his home two weeks ago.
The court was told that Cargill, 36, was getting ready to board an Air Jamaica flight to London on May 4 at the Sangster's International Airport in Montego Bay when the red, white and brown guitar he was carrying was searched and the guitar shaped package weighing five and a half pounds was discovered.
Cargill told the court initially that he was a refrigerator repairman, but it came out later during sentencing that he was a pastor. When asked where his church is located, he quietly responded that it was a "small church".
Resident Magistrate Paulette Williams responded that she knew that members of his congregation did not use the drug as part of their ceremonies as she handed down the sentence.
Cargill was fined $8,400 or three months on the charge of possession, $16,800 or four months on the charge of dealing, and $33,600 or six months on the charge of attempting to export. The sentences are to run consecutively if the fines are not paid.
