Old and behind bars

Sep 25, 2017 News

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– is the prison’s elderly population increasing?

It’s not just delinquent youths who are finding themselves at the wrong side of the law.
Within the past month, three persons over 50 were each jailed for four years and fined $27M for trafficking over 23 pounds of cocaine and 75 pounds of marijuana respectively.
They are adding to other elderly persons who are already behind bars for offences like rape, murder amongst others.
The painful truth is that many are likely to die behind bars.
Upon examining the circumstances which led to the incarceration of these drug traffickers, it was discovered that they all wanted to earn extra cash.
One of them said he was a single parent, while another told the court that she came to Guyana and met a man who promised her that he “will help her get money faster”.
The other woman, who was jointly charged with her 17-year-old grandson for trafficking cocaine, pleaded guilty to the charge, resulting in her grandson walking free.

Naomi Persaud, age 51
On August 6, ranks from the Customs Anti Narcotics Units (CANU) swooped down on a house at Lot -25 Delph Avenue, Campbellville, Georgetown which was occupied by Persaud and her 17-year-old grandson. The search unearthed nine rectangular-shaped objects which turned out to be cocaine that was hidden in a cooking gas cylinder.
The elderly woman and her grandson were arrested.
They were arraigned in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on August 10, when an inconsolable Persaud pleaded guilty to a narcotics trafficking charge before Senior Magistrate Fabayo Azore.
She was jailed for four years and ordered to pay a fine of $ 21M by Senior Magistrate Fabayo Azore.
As a result of her early guilty plea, the charge against her grandson, a national cricket player, was dismissed.

Standley Pyle, age 59
This single parent suffered a similar fate like Persaud. He was busted with 75 pounds of marijuana, but the fine imposed on him was not as hefty as that given to Persaud.
Pyle, a father of seven, of Lot 10 Norton and Camp Streets, Georgetown, appeared before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman on September 13, and admitted to being in possession of 34.048 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa for the purpose of trafficking on September 10.

He, too, was jailed for four years and was fined $30,000.
Like Persaud, Pyle’s home was also searched by CANU ranks. At the time of the search, the grandfather of seven was the lone occupant in the home.
Upon searching a “makeshift” room located on the upper flat of the building, CANU ranks found three cartons and two barrels, all containing several parcels of bulk marijuana.
During his address to the court Pyle told Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman, “I just would like you to be lenient with me. I have little kids and I am a single parent.”

Seeta Rampersaud, 59
Rampersaud appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on September 21, and confessed to smuggling cocaine in a false section of her suitcase at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).
She was also sent to prison for four years but fined $6.2M.
On September 18, Persaud was an outgoing passenger on a Caribbean Airline flight destined for New York. Her suitcase was placed on the scanner after she checked in and a CANU ranks observed strange objects inside the suitcase.
The suitcase was taken off from the scanning area and was pierced at the back, where the cocaine emanated. A remorseful Rampersaud told the Chief Magistrate that she came to Guyana to look after her old age pension, when she was approached by a woman named Mandy who provided her with a contact number for a man who will help her “to get money faster.”
According to Rampersaud, she met the man at Giftland Mall where he told her that he will send her overseas with a suitcase, he will provide for her.
Rampersaud said that the man assured her that the suitcase contained no cocaine and that she was left shocked at the whitish substance which came out of the suitcase after it was probed.
Penalty for Trafficking in Narcotics
The mandatory prison sentence for trafficking in narcotics is outlined in the Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act Chapter 10:10 Section 5 (1) (a) (i) which states any person who trafficks in any narcotic is liable to a fine of not less than $30,000 or three times the market value of the drug, whichever is the greater, together with imprisonment for not less than three years nor more than five years.
In the case of Rampersaud and Persaud, the respective Magistrates they appeared before fined them three times the market value of the drug; while Pyle was ordered to pay the minimal fine.
In most instances, before passing sentencing on persons who plead guilty to trafficking in narcotic at their first court appearance, Magistrates would take into consideration all mitigating factors in their favour; the early guilty plea; the method in which the narcotic was concealed; the quantity of narcotic involved and the need to prevent others from committing the offence.

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