Bakimba George, who pleaded guilty to cultivation of cannabis, had little to say for himself yesterday at the Magistrates’ Court on Virgin Gorda.
Prior to handing down her sentence, Magistrate Ayanna Baptiste-DaBreo offered the defendant multiple chances to tell the court why he deserved leniency, but the 21-year-old declined the opportunities to speak on his own behalf.
The magistrate then sentenced him to serve 16 months in prison.
“Have a nice vacation,” she remarked.
Ms. Baptiste-DaBreo said she gave Mr. George a discount for his early guilty plea, but still had to take into consideration the prevalence of drug offences in the territory, as well as the large quantity of cannabis plants found in his possession.
“It’s quite obvious you considered it a business,” she said.
According to Crown Counsel Annjel Flax-Solomon, police officers discovered 721 marijuana plants on the defendant’s farm in Virgin Gorda on June 29.
The prosecutor claimed that Mr. George was arrested on suspicion and later formally charged after he allegedly admitted to police that the plants were part of his farm.
Mr. George is also facing a charge of criminal damage for allegedly cutting a wire fowl coop on March 18. He pleaded not guilty to the charge yesterday, and was ordered to return for his trial on Jan. 23. He did not have a defence attorney.