Man with loaded gun jailed for 5.5 years, fined $13,800

The Redemption Sharpes man who was nabbed with a loaded .357 magnum revolver in his crotch in Lodge Village on Dec. 9 has been handed one of the stiffest sentences so far under the amended gun laws.

On Friday, Senior Magistrate Tammika Mc Kenzie sentenced Adonis Francis, 21, to five and a half years in prison for possession of the firearm and ordered him to pay a fine of EC$13,800 in order to avoid a further three years in prison.

The fines include EC$8,700 for possession of the firearm, to be paid in one year or one year imprisonment, consecutive to the 5.5-year jail term.

Francis faced a maximum of 10 years in prison for the firearm and a fine of EC$25,000.

Mc Kenzie said the intention of the court in fining a defendant is that the defendant understands that the law allows the court to jail someone and still impose a fine on them.

On Dec. 11, Francis pleaded guilty to charges that on Dec. 10, at Lodge Village, he had a 357 Magnum revolver and nine rounds of .38 ammunition in his possession without a licence issued under the Firearms Act.

The firearm was loaded with six rounds of ammunition when officers from the Services Unit intercepted him during a patrol of the Central Kingstown community.

The officer found three rounds in his pocket when they conducted a further search of his person at the Central Police Station. 

Francis would have received a lighter sentence had the magistrate not adjourned the sentencing the previous day after some confusion over the maximum sentence.

However, on Friday, having verified that it was 10 years, in keeping with an amendment to the Firearms Act in April, the magistrate used the same starting point that she had previously established to arrive at the new sentences.

In his submission on sentencing, prosecutor, Corporal of Police Devon Bute said that gun violence has increased significantly in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

“And while it might be his first offence, we have to send a serious message to those outside who have unlicensed firearms and ammunition,” he said.

The prosecutor told the court that he was in the area of the Rubis Service Station on Dec. 9 when a masked gunman opened fire on another man around 11:50 a.m.

“I was in the area and any step further, I might have been a victim of gun violence,” Bute told the court, adding that the prosecution was of the view that Francis should be fined and imprisoned.

“While he might be in prison and not working to pay the fine, the court still has to send a message to people who feel they can use unlicensed firearms willy-nilly and to intimate people,” the prosecutor said.

“At present, our citizens are uneasy because of what is happening in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the prosecution submission is that he be fined and confined, in accordance with the legislation,” Bute said.

In handing down her sentence, McKenzie said the court has to be reasonable and not impose fines in such a way that they amount to a custodial sentence.

For the three rounds of ammunition that Francis had in his pocket, she ordered him to pay EC$1,500 forthwith or spend one year in prison.

Mc Kenzie said that because Francis was going to prison for a long time, she would not impose a suspended sentence on that charge.

For the six rounds of ammunition that he had in the firearm, Francis was ordered to pay a fine of EC$3,600 by June 12, 2025, or a year imprisonment, consecutive to the other jail terms.