A TEENAGER who admitted to stashing away a loaded pistol was yesterday sentenced to a year in prison.

Police arrested Justin McKenzie, 18, after they found a Smith & Wesson pistol with eight live rounds of ammunition in a shack near his residence on July 24.

The court was told that around 12.40 am on the morning in question, a team of officers, armed with a search warrant, proceeded to a residence on Kemp Road. Upon their arrival, they informed McKenzie of their search and began their investigation. The prosecution said when officers searched a shack on the premises, they discovered the loaded gun.

McKenzie was arrested and taken to a nearby station. When he was interviewed there, he admitted being the owner of the firearm.

When the accused appeared before Magistrate Samuel McKinney, he maintained his guilty pleas. He also told the magistrate he was sorry for his actions and asked for a “second chance”.

In response, Magistrate McKinney said he considered the fact that McKenzie had no previous convictions and that he admitted his guilt from the onset of the investigation. As a result, he fined him $5,000 and sentenced him to one year in prison. He warned McKenzie that if he failed to pay the fine, he could risk spending an additional six months on remand.

Meanwhile, Javado Adderley was also charged after officers found 13 amphetamine pills when they executed the search warrant on the Kemp Road home on July 24.

The court was told that after the officers found McKenzie’s gun, they also discovered 13 white and blue capsules with a quantity of amphetamine in the kitchen area that Adderley was occupying.

That morning, Adderley was also arrested and questioned in police custody where he said that the drugs were his.

When he was arraigned, he also told Magistrate McKinney he was “sorry for what he did” and asked for leniency.

He was subsequently fined $500 or three months in custody for simple possession.

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