Man, adopted son jailed for gun, ammo, drugs

A Dorsetshire Hill man and his adopted son have been jailed for possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition and drug offences.

Dennis Dane Crosby, 52, and Kevin Joel Jessop, 28, were sentenced by the Serious Offences Court on March 13, in connection to the offences, which they committed on Feb. 18, in Dorsetshire Hill.

At their arraignment on Feb. 20, Jessop, who was represented by lawyer Stephen Williams, pleaded guilty to charges that on Feb. 18, at Dorsetshire Hill, he:

· had in his possession 14 round of .9mm ammunition without a licence issued under the Firearm Act;

· had in his possession, one .9mm semi-automatic pistol, make unknown, serial number AB84417 without a licence issued under the Firearm Act;

· had in his 718 grammes of cannabis with intent to supply to another; and,

· had in his possession a controlled drug, to wit 9.4 grammes of cocaine.

Meanwhile, Jessop pleaded guilty and Crosby not guilty to joint charges that on Feb. 18, at Dorsetshire Hill, they:

· had in their possession one 9mm Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol, serial number MRV6129 without a licence issued under the Firearms Act;

· had in their possession 15 rounds of 9mm ammunition without a licence issued under the Firearms Act; and,

· had in their possession a controlled drug, to wit 3178 grammes of cannabis with intent to supply it to another.

The prosecution accepted the guilty pleas and Jessop was granted EC$12,000 with one surety but remained in custody because he was unable to secure a surety.

He was found guilty after a trial on March 1.

Mitigating on Jessop’s behalf at the sentencing hearing, Williams said his client is a water taxi operator and electrician and father of an 8-year-old child.

He asked the court to consider his client’s early guilty plea and previously clean record.

However, Browne said that the court was aware of situations in the country as it relates to firearm and firearm-related offences.

She said one way of counteracting this is sentence to people with unlicensed firearms in such a way that it deters would-be offenders.

The magistrate said that Jessop had claimed that the firearm did not belong to him but said in his caution statement that someone had given it to him to hold.

The magistrate said he had had it in his bedroom for over three weeks.

She further pointed out that Crosby had the firearm concealed for a period of time.

Jessop was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison on the firearms charge and one year for the ammunition offence.

For possession of 718 grammes of cannabis, Jessop was fined EC$1,066, with a three-week prison term in default.

He was further ordered to pay a fine of EC$4,000 for possession of 3,178 grammes of cannabis or spend two months in prison.

The court imposed a fine of $1,330 on the cocaine charge, with a sentence of one month in prison in default.

The court deducted from the sentence the 21 days he had spent on remand and ordered that the prison terms run concurrently.

Meanwhile, Crosby was jailed for three and half years on the firearm charge and one year for possession of 15 rounds of ammunition.

His time on remand was also deducted from the sentences, which will run concurrently.

The court ordered that the firearms and ammunition be confiscated and the drugs destroyed.