The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A TEENAGER who was found with marijuana was conditionally discharged yesterday on the agreement he would attend drug counselling classes.

Police arrested Cabreo Cash, 19, after they found 12 grams of Indian hemp in his jacket pocket on December 7.

He pleaded guilty to a single count of simple possession during a hearing before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt.

The court was told that day, officers on inquiries observed Cash, who was wearing a red jacket.

The prosecution said the defendant appeared to look in the direction of the officers before acting in a suspicious manner.

They then approached Cash and told him he would be searched in reference to dangerous drugs and firearms. During their investigation, officers discovered one clear plastic bag with ten silver foil wraps in his jacket pocket.

He was subsequently arrested and transported to the Drug Enforcement Unit where he admitted to the offence in an interview with police.

During the hearing, Cash was represented by attorney Ian Cargill. He told the magistrate his client worked as a carpenter and was the father of a one-year-old child. He also noted his client cooperated with the police’s investigation from the onset and insisted he was remorseful for his actions.

As a result, Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt granted him a conditional discharge on the agreement he would attend drug counseling for three months. She also ordered Cash to complete 100 hours of community service. She warned him if he didn’t, he would be sentenced to three months on remand.

In a separate incident, Dannieka Ferguson appeared before Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt after she was found with eight grams of marijuana on December 5.

During her hearing, she also pleaded guilty to simple possession and was conditionally discharged and ordered to attend drug counseling.

The court heard that morning, officers on mobile patrol observed the defendant walking on East Street during curfew hours. When they stopped and questioned her, she began acting suspicious. As a result they told Ferguson she would be searched in reference to dangerous drugs and firearms. While searching the defendant, officers found five silver foil wraps and a homemade cigarette in her backpack. The defendant was subsequently arrested and taken to the Drug Enforcement Unit.

When she was interviewed there, she told officers she had the drugs to smoke over the weekend.

After granting Ferguson a conditional discharge, Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt told her she would be sentenced to three months in jail if she failed to meet the conditions of her release.