Westmoreland cop fined, given suspended prison sentence for ganja conviction

Westmoreland police sergeant Christopher McDaniel has escaped incarceration after he was yesterday fined and also given a suspended prison sentence for his drug conviction.

In December, McDaniel was found guilty of possession of and trafficking 2,445 pounds of ganja.

When he appeared in the Hanover Parish Court yesterday, Senior Parish Judge Sheron Barnes, now acting as a Supreme Court judge,  fined McDaniel $15,000 or 12 months in prison for possession of ganja and $750,000 or 18 months in prison for trafficking.

He was also sentenced to a mandatory 12-month prison term, but this has been suspended for three years.

The imposition of the suspended sentence means that if McDaniel is convicted of any offence within the next three years, he would have to serve the 12 months behind bars.

When the trial began in June this year, Ronald Dell who was charged jointly with the policeman pleaded guilty to the offences.

Dell was sentenced in December last year to $15,000 or six months imprisonment for possession of ganja and $500,000 or 12 months for dealing in ganja.

The Crown, represented by Clerk of the Courts Gairy Reid, led evidence that in July 2017, a truck driven by Sergeant McDaniel was intercepted in Green Island, Hanover.

The truck contained 48 knitted bags with ganja weighing a total of 2,445 pounds.

Investigations by Detective Inspector Shawn Barnett led to the men being charged with ganja offences.

McDaniel, in an unsworn statement, said he had no knowledge that ganja was in the truck which belonged to his brother-in-law.

He said he was called to assist in driving the truck for someone who could not manage the vehicle's clutch.

Yesterday, McDaniel called two character witnesses, one of whom was his 19-year-old daughter.

Last year, the prosecution withdrew the charges of exporting ganja with which McDaniel and Dell were charged after the judge said she did not find any proof of the offences.

A third man, Tyee Kameka, was charged jointly with the men but he was freed in June last year after his lawyer Sheldon Campbell made a no case submission, which was upheld by the judge.

In the meantime, the Assets Recovery Agency has initiated proceedings against McDaniel under the  Proceeds of Crime Act and the case is set to start on March 28.

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