“The police officers should be responsible for the weed cause they should have checked the food but instead they allowed me to collect it. Is the police fault,” were the words of a murder accused who pleaded guilty to a narcotics trafficking charge.
Twenty-three-year-old Odel Roberts of 124 ‘C’ Field, Sophia, who is currently on remand for the murder of a shopkeeper, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and fined $30,000 for his admitted crime.
Roberts pleaded guilty with explanation before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. He admitted that, on July 3, 2019, at Camp Street Prison, Georgetown, he had in his possession 102 grams of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.
Facts presented by Police Prosecutor Seon Blackman stated that on the day in question, Roberts was escorted around 08:30 AM to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) to seek medical attention.
The court heard while at the hospital, Roberts collected a box of fried rice from someone. Upon his return to Camp Street, a search was carried out and leaves, seeds, and stems suspected to be narcotics was found hidden under the rice.
He was then told of the offence, an investigation was carried out, and he was charged.
However, Roberts in his explanation said, “This is a surprise; all now I just collect the food from my family. The food come for me so I collect it. They find the weed in the food so is my own. But to be on a real, I think is the police trying to set me up.”
The magistrate, after listening to the facts, handed down the custodial sentence.
Roberts is currently on remand for the murder of Sophia shopkeeper Shawn Anys, who was shot dead in front of his children when bandits invaded his home.
Roberts was not required to plead to the charge which stated that on May 1, 2015, at Sophia, he murdered Anys during the course of a robbery. According to information, on the day in question at around 9:50 PM Anys went out into his yard to make a check because his dogs were barking continuously. He was, however, confronted by two men, one of whom was armed with a handgun. During the confrontation, Anys was shot.
