Eccles man jailed, fined for planting ganja

Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton on Tuesday sentenced an Eccles man to four years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to cultivating a prohibited plant and having in his possession narcotics for the purposes of trafficking.

Gary William pleaded guilty to the charges when he appeared at court.

According to the facts of the case during a joint services operation at the Eccles back dam on Sunday, the ¼ acre field of marijuana was discovered. In a press release the police said about 120 marijuana plants between one and five feet in height had been cultivated in the field. Further, upon searching a camp that belonged to William, 500 grams of dried marijuana was found.

The court ordered that William serve the four-year sentence concurrently and that he pay a fine of $480,000 on the possession charge and $30,000 on the other.

Both the field and the camp were destroyed.