WESTMORELAND:
JUNIOR FRANCIS, a 40-year-old taxi operator of Cave Mountain district in Westmoreland, was fined $200,000 or three years imprisonment at hard labour after pleading guilty to illegal possession of firearm and ammunition in the Gun Court on Friday.
Francis was arrested and charged with two other men on Christmas Day, last year, during a police operation on the Ferris main road.
Police told the court that they searched the Toyota Corolla motor car he was driving and found a .38 Smith and Wesson revolver with six cartridges on the floor of the car beside the driver's seat.
The accused man had earlier pleaded not guilty. However, he changed his plea after the arresting officer, Everton Goulbourne, gave evidence. Two other men who pleaded not guilty to the charges were freed.
Francis was fined $150,000 or three years imprisonment at hard labour for illegal possession of the firearm, and $50,000 or three years imprisonment for possession of ammunition. The sentences are to run concurrently.
Presiding Judge was Mr. Justice Howard Cooke Jnr. Crown Counsel Suzette Rogers led the prosecution's case, while attorney-at-law Vernon Ricketts represented Francis.
