ST JAMES, Jamaica - Iyesha Scarlett, a British national who was arrested in connection with attempts to smuggle cocaine onto a flight destined for England, was on Wednesday sentenced to six months imprisonment by the St James Parish Court.

Scarlett, a 37-year-old office administrator of Birmingham, England, was also slapped with a J$600,000 fine during her sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to the charges of possession, dealing, and attempting to export cocaine.

During the hearing, Scarlett’s lawyer, Orville Morgan, said that it was the first time his client had committed an offence, or anything deemed unlawful.

“My client wasted no time and she had pleaded guilty and I’m asking the court to consider that. We know that these offences are serious, and in those circumstances, I am asking for leniency from the court,” the attorney added.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Smith-Ashley took into account Scarlett’s age, her previous good character, and the fact that she pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

In addition to the six-month sentence, Scarlett was ordered to pay a fine of J$200,000 or spend six months in prison for possession of cocaine, and J$400,000 or six months for attempting to export cocaine, with the sentences to run consecutively if the fines are not paid. She was admonished and discharged for dealing in cocaine, and no evidence was offered on the conspiracy charge.

The facts are that on May 13 at about 2:15 pm, Scarlett checked in at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, St James to board a flight to Birmingham, England. During a routine security screening, anomalies were detected in her luggage. During a search, four packages of cocaine weighing four and a half pounds were removed from a hidden compartment.