Inmate Gets Another Conviction for Drugs

Shaquan Almendarez

A prisoner, who is serving a three year sentence, picked up another conviction for a drug related offense. Shaquan Almendarez, who has already served two years for drug trafficking, was slapped with an additional year which is to run concurrently with his previous jail term. When he appeared before Justice Sharon Frasier, Almendarez changed his plea to guilty for possession of drugs, but maintained not guilty to drug trafficking, which was accepted by court prosecutor Inspector Hector Rodriguez.  Almendarez, who was found with one hundred and fifty-four grams of cannabis in his possession, was initially charged with drug trafficking because the cannabis is in excess of sixty grams. For his guilty plea, he was sentenced to one year imprisonment which is to run concurrently with his final year in prison. In December 2012, police saw Almendarez hanging in front of a gate on Electric Avenue and when he saw the officer, it is alleged that he ran into a yard and hooked a bag onto a fence. When the officer caught up with him, Almendarez was taken back to the area where the bag was and it was opened and the content, discovered to be weed, was weighed.