BY TASHIEKA MAIR, STAR Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
A NEGRIL CHEF who tried to smuggle drugs out of Jamaica to take care of his mother's debt, was sentenced to two years in prison and fined in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.
Garfield Lawrence, 32, pleaded guilty to possession, dealing in, and taking steps to export 2.5 lb of cocaine. He was fined $150,000 or six months in prison for possession, and $250,000 or six months for attempting to export the drug.
His attorney, Adrian Days, during his mitigation plea, said his client was not transporting drugs for his personal gain. Instead, he was trying to help his mother who was about to be evicted from the land on which she lived, if she did not pay over $500,000.
HELPING MOTHER
Days said his client was promised £5,000 (J$540,000), if he carried the drugs to London. He said Lawrence saw this as the perfect way to help his mother, whom he is extremely close to.
RM Winsome Henry, however, said that despite Lawrence's noble intent to help his mother in her time of need, she could not accept the fact that he chose illegal means to assist his mother.
The facts are that on December 9, Lawrence went to the Sangster International Airport and checked in to board a flight to London's Heathrow Airport. His luggage was searched and four bags labelled 'Jablum Blue Mountain Coffee' were discovered. The bags were searched and found to contain cocaine.
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