Two Year Old Marijuana Case Concluded

Olympia King

The trial for a family of four, Olympia King, her son, Tyron King, daughter, Sherin King and family friend, Harrison Smith, who is now deceased, concluded today before the Senior Magistrate, Sharon Fraser. Of the four persons, one was convicted for the offenses of Cultivation of Marijuana and Possession of a Pipe adapted to smoke marijuana. The charges go back to July 2012, when police busted the family at their apartment on Saint Joseph Street, rented by King.  Officers found a marijuana tree measuring three feet in height which was in plain sight on a verandah on the top floor of King’s apartment.  They also found a pipe measuring three and a half inches in length used for smoking a controlled drug. This morning, Senior Magistrate Sharon Fraser acquitted King’s daughter and son, but found her guilty of both offenses. Sentencing has been reserved for January sixth, 2015. King is facing a possible fine and confinement since the record shows that she has a previous conviction for possession of marijuana in 2013. For that offense she was fined five hundred dollars, but has only paid thirty dollars. The penalty alone for cultivation of marijuana carries a mandatory custodial sentence of three years and a fine of ten thousand dollars. The King family denied the allegations saying they had no knowledge of the marijuana plant and pipe, but the Senior Magistrate was of the view that Olympia, being the tenant and head of the household had knowledge of the items. The verandah where the plant and pipe were found was only accessible through King’s house.  In the case of Smith, he was gunned down a few months ago.