The Tribune

A MAN was sentenced to six years in prison yesterday after admitting to having custody of nearly 1,400 rounds of assorted ammunition.

Javon Hanna, 24, of Golden Gates, appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt facing five counts of possession of ammunition with intent to supply concerning an incident on August 4.

It is alleged he, without being the holder of a license, was found with 78 live rounds of 9mm ammunition, 216 rounds of .45 ammunition, 154 rounds of .40 ammunition, 423 rounds of .223 ammunition and 527 rounds of 7.62 ammunition with intent to supply.

Hanna pleaded guilty to the five charges.

On Friday, August 4, at 5.45pm, officers executed a search warrant in the name of the accused, went to the house at St Barts Road and presented the document to Hanna who appeared to have read the document.

A search was conducted at the rear of the house in the yard and with the assistance of the K-9 unit, officers discovered a large black bag under a banana patch where 1,398 rounds of the assorted ammunition were discovered.

He was later arrested and cautioned, taken to CDU where he admitted to the offences, police prosecutor Inspector Edna Pratt told the court.

The police prosecutor added that Hanna has a conviction as a recent as October 2016, in which he was fined $500 or two years incarceration for fraud by false pretences.

The chief magistrate asked Hanna if he accepted the facts read by the police prosecutor.

Hanna said he did.

Hanna was asked how the ammunition came to be in his possession. He said he told police he and a friend stumbled upon the items in the back of his fishing spot by the Coral Harbour Canal in January of this year.

The chief magistrate asked the accused, who was not represented in court, if he was gainfully employed.

Hanna said he was, claiming to earn roughly $4,000 per month between a landscaping job and work at a funeral home.

He proceeded to ask the court for leniency in sentencing.

“One round of ammunition is serious but when a court hears the facts of some 1,398 rounds of ammunition, it is egregious,” the chief magistrate said.

The judge also expressed concern that some of the ammunition was for high powered weapons which she said “are no match for the police force”.

“The war that all well-meaning Bahamians are concerned about concerning crimes is that there are too many guns and too many murders and society looks to the court to impose a sanction that will serve as a deterrent.

“So when you ask for leniency, you can’t be serious.”

“I’ve been sitting in this court for seven years and in my experience, this is the largest seizure in one find, period.

“And for every ammunition, there is a matching gun somewhere,” the judge said.

She added it was also disconcerting that “you are a young man with an income”.

“You make $4,000 a month without criminal activity. Therefore the court can only conclude it was purely greed that allowed you to keep the ammunition in your custody from January to August,” she said.

“This court has zero tolerance to crime but particularly crime associated with illegal firearms and ammunition. This case must serve as a deterrent to would be offenders. The court finds this case warrants six years having regard to the amount of ammunition and the calibre involved.”

The six years on each count will run concurrently.

However, the court further imposed an additional fine of $6,000 for the 527 rounds of ammunition with the condition that if he failed to pay the fine before the end of his incarceration, he would receive an additional 12 months at the Department of Correctional Services.