KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne, Friday sentenced a senior nurse who had been charged with having 60 kilograms of cocaine in her possession to two years and ten months in jail.
The court heard that Nurse Lucrehsa Nanton, 35, had the cocaine in her possession at the Owia Clinic on January 22, last year. Last week, she pleaded guilty to the charge of possession of 59,939 grams of cocaine with intent to supply when she appeared at the Serious Offences Court.
Earlier this week, at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court, where the chief magistrate presided, the prosecution withdrew a charge of drug trafficking against the health workers.
In handing down the sentence, the Chief Magistrate said she had consulted the sentencing guidelines and assessed the offense category based on the quantum and the defendant’s role.
The Chief Magistrate said that the court had assessed the circumstances and concluded that Nanton’s role was significant. She said that the aggravating features of the offense are that the drug was well concealed in a barrel covered with medical supplies in the nurses’ quarters at the clinic.
The police had to break down the door to enter the room after the keys to the nurse’s quarters were unavailable.
Browne said that having perused the caution statement. The court concluded that Nanton had attempted to shift blame for the drug. Different people were taken into custody as part of the investigation based on information the accused gave.
The Chief Magistrate said that as the staff nurse for the area, Nanton had a position of trust, responsibility, and authority and that the time the cocaine was taken to the clinic, it was a well-calculated and planned process.
The Chief Magistrate noted that while the nurse had pleaded guilty to the offense, she did not do so t at the earliest opportunity and not immediately after the drug was tested.
The court heard that on January 22, last year, police officers from the Rapid Response, Special Patrol, and Narcotics Units, acting on information, executed a search warrant at Nanton’s home and the Owia Clinic, where she was the nurse in charge.
Nothing illegal was found at Nanton’s home, and she was invited to the Owia Clinic, where the police asked her if she had anything to declare.
Nanton said no, and the officer searched the clinic and found nothing illegal.
However, as they left the building, they received information and returned, informing Nanton that they intended to conduct another search, to which she consented.
The police said on searching the nurses’ quarters. They saw a brown barrel with a white covering next to a bed. On opening the barrel in the presence of the defendant and other police officers, the police found a black traveling bag and three large black garbage bags containing several black rectangular taped packages with transparent plastic around them.
The bags were opened in Nanton’s presence, but she told the offices the contents were not hers.
In mitigation, defense counsel Ronald “Ronnie” Marks had noted Nanton’s age and told the court that she graduated from St. Joseph’s Convent in Kingstown, after which she underwent training as a nurse.
She graduated from the nursing program in 2009, was immediately awarded a contract, and worked as a nurse in Trinidad for ten years.
The lawyer said that Nanton was diagnosed with a medical condition six years ago. Because of its effect, she did not renew her contract and option to return to St. Vincent to start a family immediately.
He said she was working as a nurse up to the date of her arrest and, before this, had never gotten into trouble with the law, not even a traffic violation.
Marks said Nanton was before the court “because of a terrible decision.
“Without going into too much detail, she was manipulated by a close family member. She at no time knew what it was. However, in the circumstances, she should have suspected,
“She said to the police at the very beginning that when they took the items from the barrel, it was the first time she was seeing cocaine in her life. She allowed herself to be manipulated and made one of her life’s worst decisions.”
The court, however, rejected the submission about Nanton’s medical condition, saying that she had gone to see a doctor four months after being charged.
and then 