After he admitted his role in a $2.5 million cocaine smuggling venture, 44-year-old Dominican Jose Cabrera was sentenced to four years in prison. Cancer patient Anthony Armbrister received the same sentence after pleading guilty to having 51 grams (1.7 ounces) of cocaine that he planned to sell to raise money for an upcoming surgery. Both men were impacted by the amended Dangerous Drugs Act of November 2011, which removes magistrates' latitude in sentencing on charges of drug possession with intent to supply. The act, which signalled a return to mandatory minimum sentencing following the passage of the Abolition of Mandatory Minimum Sentences Act in 2000, stipulates a mandatory sentencing range of four to seven years.
Prosecutors confirmed to The Nassau Guardian that no one convicted under the new law has been sentenced to more than four years. When the PLP won the government in May 2012, National Security Minister Dr. Bernard Nottage said that there were plans to review the one-size-fits-all sentencing regime that was reintroduced by the Free National Movement (FNM) administration. Mandatory minimum sentences were first introduced in 1994. According to a source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, plans to amend the legislation are still in the works.
The source said government is gathering statistics in relation to those affected by the strictures of the mandatory sentencing regime "to see what we're dealing with." The Court of Appeal last year ruled that the four-year sentences imposed on Anthony Armbrister for 51 grams of cocaine and Andrew Davis for six ounces of marijuana violated the principle of proportionality. The Appellate Tribunal quashed the sentences and sent the men back to the magistrate for resentencing. Armbrister was sentenced to eight months in prison and Davis was sentenced to a year. Since then, the Court of Appeal has reduced the penalties of persons who received the mandatory minimum.
Court of Appeal Registrar Indira Demeritte-Francis said she did not have the statistics of how many of those appeals were heard. Last month, Justice of Appeal Christopher Blackman suggested that the review include classifying drugs based on the harm they cause. Blackman made his remarks while considering the appeals of drug convicts against mandatory minimum sentences. Derek Bain pleaded guilty to having 10-and-a-half pounds of cocaine with intent to supply, while Garcia Williams pleaded guilty to having 10 grams of marijuana with intent to supply.
Despite the disparity in weight and value, both men were jailed for four years, the minimum sentence the magistrate could impose under amended drug laws. Blackman said, "Speaking for myself, the Parliament in this country must differentiate between different types of drugs as they do in other jurisdictions. Marijuana and cocaine are not of the same genre. Cocaine is a lot more lethal." He continued, "They (drugs) need to be classified as they are in other jurisdictions. Saying drugs are drugs are drugs, just isn't sufficient or appropriate. They need to be differentiated."
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