COA upholds five-year sentence of man found with AK-47

The Court of Appeal on Monday affirmed a five-year sentence imposed on a man who had an AK-47 assault rifle in his home.

Jahris Black received the sentence when he pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited weapon in 2017. Black had a prior conviction for assault with a deadly weapon.

Black, who represented himself, told the panel of Justices of Appeal Sir Michael Barnett, Roy Jones and Carolita Bethell that he had only owned up to the weapon so his mother wouldn’t go to prison.

“I had to plead guilty,” he said.

“…They had my mummy locked up because nobody else was going to take the charge. My old lady was like 52 or 53, so I couldn’t see my old lady go to jail, sir.

“The only reason I plead guilty for that gun was because of my mother. The person they were supposed to lock up, they didn’t lock up. I don’t even live in that house.”

However, Bethell pointed out that magistrate’s notes said otherwise. According to the record of the lower court, when police asked Black if anything illegal was in the house, he pointed to a closet and told officers, “It right there.”

The officers found the rifle hidden in a clothes hamper.

The magistrate considered Black’s prior conviction and early guilty plea in determining the appropriate sentence.

In dismissing the appeal, Sir Michael said, “In our view, there is no basis upon which we can interfere with the magistrate’s sentence of five years. It is a stiff sentence, but a sentence that is appropriate to the particulars of this case.”

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/coa-upholds-five-year-sentence-of-man-found-with-ak-47/