By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Court Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was sentenced to two years in prison yesterday after being found with 50 rounds of unfired ammunition and 13oz of marijuana in his Kennedy Subdivision home last week.

Audric Gibson, 31, with his brother, Levoyn Gibson, 39, of Coconut Grove both stood before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt on charges of possession of ammunition with intent to supply and possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply.

According to police reports around 2.25pm on January 11 officers, acting on a search warrant for dangerous drugs and firearms, aided by a K-9 unit, entered the defendants’ residence. Inside, the police dog pointed out a chair covered in clothing. A search uncovered three clear plastic baggies containing Indian hemp. Audric immediately admitted to ownership of the 13 oz of marijuana, which had an estimated street value of $780.

A further search of the residence found 50 live rounds of .45 ammunition in a white box concealed in a hamper in the defendant’s bathroom.

In a subsequent police interview, Audric once again admitted to having the drugs saying that he had it to smoke. He also took responsibility for the ammunition at this time.

In court, Audric pleaded guilty to the charges while Levoyn pleaded not guilty. With his brother admitting sole responsibility to the offences, the charges against Levoyn were officially withdrawn.

The prosecution revealed to the Chief Magistrate that Audric had a prior drug conviction from December of 2015 when he was sentenced to nine months in prison. Audric had further antecedents before the court for disorderly behaviour and stealing.

In response to Audric saying that he was only holding the ammunition for a friend, Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt said that this isn’t the defendant’s “first rodeo” in court. She told him to take responsibility for his actions, citing the risk to the public in such matters with the escalation of firearm-related deaths of late.

In view of his early plea of guilt and his prior offences, the Chief Magistrate sentenced the accused to two years in prison for the ammunition and 18 months for the drugs to be served concurrently. He was also told of his right to appeal sentencing within seven days.

Before being taken into remand Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt told Audric that she hopes he learns from this.