Rio Claro pig farmer Jeffrey Sydney who confessed to selling drugs after the police found 20.76 grammes of marijuana in his parlour is expected to be sentenced in two weeks. In the San Fernando First Assizes court where Sydney pleaded guilty, State attorney Angela Teelucksingh said he was charged with trafficking not based on the amount, but because he confessed to selling the drugs. Sydney, 54, was arrested at his San Pedro home on September 22, 2007.
The facts were that around 5.30 am PC Renne Lakhan, along with Cpl Racha and other officers of the Rio Claro Police Station, executed a search warrant for dangerous drugs at Sydney’s home. Nothing was found in the house. When police searched the parlour, annexed to the house, they found in a stock room a transparent bag containing the drugs. Sydney told the police: “Boss that is my parlour, all ah does do is sell ah lil ten piece. I eh killing nobody.”
Asking Justice Hayden St Clair-Douglas not to send Sydney to jail, attorney Wilston Campbell asked the judge to consider that last year Sydney was fined $50,000 by then Justice Anthony Carmona after a jury found him guilty of the same offence. He said in that matter the amount was almost two kilogrammes. Since the incident in 2007, he said Sydney has kept out of trouble. In fact, he said Sydney has turned his life around and is attending church. He also produced a testimonial from the pastor.
Campbell added that Sydney is the father of five, including a 15-year-old boy who needs his father’s guidance and support. Teelucksingh said the mitigating factors are that the accused did not waste the court’s time and the quantum. However, she said an aggravating factor is that Sydney has four previous convictions for similar offences. The judge is expected to pass sentence on March 25.
