Lust for Financial Gain Leads to $20,000 Fine for Drug Trafficking: Case Details of Deon Maurice Knight and Dave Ricardo Fenty

Deon Maurice Knight’s lust for financial gain led him to lose $20 000 – his fine for trafficking almost 400 kilogrammes of cannabis 16 years ago.

His partner in the crime, Dave Ricardo Fenty, was slapped with a heavier fine of $25 000 when the duo appeared for sentencing in the No. 4 Supreme Court on Friday.

Knight, a labourer of Glenburnie, St John, and Fenty, a Durants Village, St James carpenter were ordered by Justice Laurie-Anne Smith-Bovell to pay $5 000 each immediately and to settle their balances by the end of August next year.

A jury had unanimously found the two men guilty of possession and trafficking 392.5 kilogrammes of cannabis on May 21, 2008.

Narcotics Division police were surveilling Phyllis Beach at Glenburnie, St John after receiving information about a drug landing in the area, the court heard. Around 10:30 p.m. officers headed towards the sound of a boat and saw several men in a field near the beach carrying bulky packages. Spotting their lights on the men, they saw Fenty holding a plastic bag in his right hand. He dropped the bag and along with the other men ran into bushes. Gunfire then erupted from the spot, causing the officers to seek cover as the men escaped. The police then retrieved the bags of cannabis.

Later that same night, officers headed to a home in Glenburnie where they found Knight with a gunshot wound to his buttocks. He was treated by ambulance and taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. On his discharge, he was taken into custody.

Almost a year later, the cops caught up with Fenty.

Both men denied their involvement with the drug haul.

At the sentencing hearing, Justice Smith-Bovell pointed out that both men were found to have a medium risk of re-offending and a history of marijuana use.

In Knight’s case, he had six previous convictions, she noted, four of which were for cannabis and the other two for handling stolen property and assault, while Fenty’s two were for drugs.

The judge said the case was serious enough to merit a custodial sentence for the duo. She also noted the substantial quantity of drugs involved, which if sold, would have harmed society, and that the exercise was undertaken for financial gain.

“In Fenty’s case, there was some degree of planning,” Justice Smith-Bovell said. “For Knight, it was a spontaneous act in that he heard what he knew could only be a drug boat come in and got out of his bed to go and relieve the importers of some of the drugs, so his was a crime of opportunity without any planning. The sole mitigating factor is that no violence was used by either of the convicted men, but there were gunshots that night that led to the now-convicted man Knight being shot.”

The judge gave Knight a starting sentence of 14 years and Fenty 18 years for his more proactive role.

She noted that even though he apologised to the court, Fenty continued to maintain his innocence.

After consideration of the “considerable” delay in the matter being brought to trial, three years were deducted from the starting sentences. The 367 days Knight spent on remand and Fenty’s 860 days in pre-trial custody were also taken into account.

Failure to pay their fine will result in Knight having to spend nine years and 363 days more in prison, while Fenty will serve 12 years and 235 days.

Justice Smith-Bovell convicted, reprimanded and discharged the men on the possession charge.

Defence lawyer Marlon Gordon represented both men in the case which was prosecuted by Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Alliston Seale.

The case will be further reviewed on October 4.