By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A 21-year-old man was sentenced to 30 months in prison yesterday after admitting to having a loaded gun in a car on Carmichael Road earlier this week.
Magistrate Lennox Coleby arraigned Douglas Moss, Jeffrey Toussaint, 21, and Latario Mackey, 19, on possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of ammunition.
Police reportedly encountered the defendants in a silver Suzuki Swift on Montgomery Avenue, where a front seat passenger threw a bag out a window at 1.30pm on August 26. After stopping the vehicle and recovering the bag, which had Moss’s name on it, officers found a black Taurus G2C .40 pistol and ten rounds of .40 ammunition inside the bag.
Moss was the sole defendant who pleaded guilty to the charges.
Alphonso Lewis, the defendant’s attorney, said his young client had accepted responsibility for his actions and pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. He also said that Moss was gainfully employed as a mechanic. He asked Magistrate Coleby to temper justice with mercy and implored him to give a lenient sentence.
After noting that one of Moss’s co-accused had a prior stealing conviction, Magistrate Coleby remarked to the defendants: “God knows what stupidness you were up to that day.”
Magistrate Coleby sentenced Moss to two and half years at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services (BDCS). During that time, he must enrol in further mechanic courses or assist with machinery in prison.
Moss thanked the magistrate for his judgement.
The two remaining defendants appeared confused when the magistrate told them the charges against them would proceed.
Magistrate Coleby advised them to seek legal counsel before their next court date on September 25. Until then, both Toussaint and Mackey will be remanded to BDCS.
Sergeant Vernon Pyfrom served as the prosecutor.
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