The Court of Appeal has unanimously rejected a proposed appeal by a boat captain against his convictions and sentences for drug possession with intent to supply.
Jose Cabrera was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment and fined $20,000 to avoid spending an additional six months in custody.
The sentences took effect from the date of his remand in September 2021.
On August 28, 2021, police boarded a sailboat skippered by Cabrera at a marina in Long Island to search for illegal drugs.
The police did not find any contraband during the initial search.
Police took Cabrera, his crew member, and the boat to Exuma to carry out a more comprehensive search.
During the second search, police officers found a crocus bag containing 61 pounds of cocaine inside a wooden structure in the engine room where the batteries for the boat’s vessel were stored.
Cabrera was convicted following a trial before Magistrate Samuel McKinney, who rejected his testimony that he had no knowledge of the drugs.
Cabrera’s crew member was acquitted.
After firing a public defender and a privately retained lawyer, Cabrera represented himself at the appeal.
He argued that his conviction was unsafe because he was locked up at the police station when Sergeant Dorsett found the drugs. They found no merit in this argument as the magistrate accepted the officer’s evidence.
The court further noted that Cabrera’s complaint was undermined by his admission in the record of the interview that he was outside the boat when they did the inspection.
Cabrera also failed to convince the court to quash the fine, which he said he was unable to pay.
The appellate judges found that the imposition of a fine or an additional six months was not unduly harsh as he would effectively serve a two-year sentence for possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply.
Source- The Nassau Guardian
