A 44-YEAR-OLD man of Livingstone who earns a living through illicit drug business has gone in again for trafficking in 30.6 grammes of marijuana.
Patrick Moongwa, who confessed to the court that he was once jailed for a similar offence, was sentenced to nine months imprisonment with hard labour by magistrate Benjamin Mwelwa.
This is in a case in which Moongwa was charged with trafficking in marijuana, contrary to the Laws of Zambia.
Particulars are that on September 2, this year, in Livingstone, Moongwa trafficked in marijuana without lawful authority.
“The marijuana that was found in my possession was for sale, and I was with my friend, but he ran away,” he said in his plea.
Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) prosecutor Andrew Pikiti told the court that his officers received information that there was a male person in Mbita compound who was dealing in psychotropic substances.
Mr Pikiti said the officers rushed to the area and found the suspect with 10 balls of marijuana.
In mitigation Mr Pikiti told the court that Moongwa was a first offender, but the accused testified to the contrary.
Moongwa told the court that he was once convicted on a similar offence and handed a nine months jail sentence but he only served six months.
He, however, failed to tell the court the name of the prison where he was incarcerated.
Magistrate Mwelwa wondered why the prosecution did not have the information that the accused was an ex-convict.
Mr Pikiti insisted that there was no record to prove that Moongwa was a second offender.
And in mitigation, Moongwa said he was at the mercy of the court and that it was up to the adjudicator to decide his fate.
He, however, asked the court to forgive him for the offence that he had committed.
In his judgment, Mr Mwelwa said he would consider Moongwa’s mitigation and treat him as a first offender.
“I will send you to prison for nine months imprisonment with hard labour so that you can reflect on your actions. I will grant you leave to appeal to the High Court within 14 days if you are not satisfied with my sentence,” he said.
(DailyMail)
He wants free beans mundende!
I thought this case was about real drugs. Why is the Zambian judicial system so full of dumb ídiots? Real crooks in government are roaming free and these ídiots are throwing a man in jail for some weed.