ST JAMES, Jamaica- St James- Businessman Rohan Cummings, who was held with US$850,000 (J$130,008,520) worth of cocaine inside a bus he was driving in March 2022, was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

He avoided the maximum five-year prison after his lawyer argued for leniency in the St James Parish Court on Wednesday.

Cummings, who was found guilty of possession, dealing, and trafficking cocaine, was also slapped with a combined $3 million fine. He pleaded not guilty to the charge of conspiracy to export cocaine, for which the prosecution offered no evidence.

READ: Businessman held with $130m worth of cocaine found guilty

Members of Cummings’ family came out to support him while the businessman remained calm in the prisoner’s dock throughout the proceedings.

During Cummings’ sentencing hearing, his attorney, Henry McCurdy, asked the court to impose a fine rather than imprison him, arguing that Cummings’ aunt relied heavily on him for daily care and support, and emphasising the devastating impact his imprisonment would have on her well-being.

“All of her vital signs have been going up and down since he was convicted…a custodial sentence will place a burden on her, and the family is afraid she might ‘give up’ if he is sent to prison,” McCurdy said.

McCurdy also stated that while his client has expressed remorse, he is disappointed that he was convicted of something that he has no knowledge of.

In handing down sentence, presiding judge Kaysha Grant-Pryce noted that such offences are governed by the law and that her goal in the entire procedure is to be an umpire throughout the trial and to come up with a determination of guilt or innocence after the trial, as well as to use a scientific approach to sentencing.

“We start by looking at the Dangerous Drugs Act, and charged with such serious offence, I’m sure that this Act has been properly and carefully ventilated by yourself and your client,” Grant-Pryce told McCurdy.

Section 8 of the Act, as amended in 2016, carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine of no more than $2 million for cocaine possession.

Grant-Pryce emphasised the aggravating circumstances that go against the defendant, such as the fact that they had to go through a full trial, the quantity of the drug, the prevalence of the offence, the potential for it to negatively impact several people’s lives, the street value, and his lack of remorse.

However, she took into account the mitigating circumstances such as the fact that he has no previous convictions, that he is a family man, that he has an aunt who is reliant on him, that the community speaks highly of him, and that the social enquiry report is relatively favourable.

In terms of sentencing guidelines, she stated that if a trial is held, the typical sentence ranges from two to three years, depending on the mitigating circumstances.

“Based on the aggravating circumstances and the nature of the drug, he will have to serve a period of confinement,” the judge said.

“But the court is moved by the plight of his aunt and is even prepared to reduce what the sentencing guidelines dictate…However, it will still be a period of confinement and a fine that will be imposed on Mr Cummings…That is as much leniency as I can give because it was outside of what the sentencing guidelines have prescribed for me to follow..There cannot be a community-based sentencing for thirty-five pounds of cocaine,” she added.

In addition to the mandatory 18-month prison term, Cummings was ordered to pay a fine of $1.5 million or nine months’ imprisonment for possession of cocaine and $1.5 million or nine months’ imprisonment for tafficking cocaine, with sentences running concurrently if the fines are not paid. He was admonished and discharged for dealing in cocaine.

In accordance with court records, Cummings was pulled over by police on Long Hill in St James on March 7, 2022, at 2:45 pm. The bus was searched and 35.5 pounds of cocaine was found in the left-hand and right-hand panels of the vehicle.

The cocaine was reportedly found wrapped in 16 packages.

READ: Western Jamaica businessman charged after US$850k cocaine bust

Under caution, Cummings claimed that he had borrowed the bus in order to pay a visit to his granddaughter.

He was taken into custody and interviewed, following which he was arrested and charged with breaching the Dangerous Drugs Act.