MONTEGO BAY, St James — A man who had been in police custody since August last year after he was found with a cellular phone that was reported stolen earlier that day, was sentenced to 12 months at hard labour in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.

Thirty-nine year-old Jeffrey Brown of a Tower Street, Kingston address, pleaded guilty to receiving stolen good when he appeared in court.

It took a while before Brown admitted to anything, as at first he denied entering the complainant's house at Bogue Village and taking the phone.

When offered the alternate charge of receiving stolen property, he again pled not guilty and was given yet a third option-- larceny by finding-- to which he responded "me can get charge for finding something?"

According to police records, the man who said he is a higgler, has had at least six previous convictions, all for dishonesty.

The court heard that the touch screen cellular phone was stolen from a home in Bogue Village on August 17 last year and later that day Brown was held on Barnett Street and the phone was found in his possession.

He was taken to the police station where the phone was identified by the complainant as the one stolen from her earlier in the day.