A 21-year-old woman who took 106 grams of marijuana into the Camp Street Prison in Georgetown was on Friday sentenced to a three-year jail term by Senior Magistrate Leron Daly.
At the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, Teana Anderson, a security guard from “C” Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, while explaining that she was unaware of what was inside the bag given to her by someone to take for a prisoner.
Before passing sentence on the woman, Magistrate Daly inquired of Anderson if she had anything to say and the unrepresented woman replied “no”.
Apart from the custodial sentence, this drug trafficker has to pay a $30,000 fine.
The woman was held around 13:15hrs at the penitentiary where she had gone to take a package for inmate, Akeem Edwards, who is serving a lengthy sentence for murder.
When Anderson arrived at the facility, a search was conducted on a black plastic bag she was carrying. Upon further checking the bag, a quantity of leaves, seeds, and stems suspected to be cannabis were found hidden under the sole of a Nike sneaker.
As such, she was told of the allegation, cautioned, and arrested, before being escorted along with the narcotics to the Albertown Police Station in Georgetown.
The drug smuggling effort caused Director of Prisons Nicklon Elliot to emphasise that smuggling contraband into a correctional facility is a felony with serious repercussions.
He urged citizens to understand the risks they pose to themselves, society, convicts, and officers by dealing in contraband inside the prison’s walls.
Elliot, meantime, praised the jail guards there for their vigilance.
In February 2022, Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry had sentenced Edwards to imprisonment for 47 years after he was found guilty of a murder charge over killing a fellow inmate.
On September 14, 2014, in the county of Essequibo, he murdered 21-year-old Teon Smith who was at the time serving a five-year sentence for robbery under arms.
Edwards must serve 40 years before becoming eligible for parole.
