A Vincentian man who fled St. Vincent and the Grenadines while awaiting trial on drug charges and ended up serving 10 years in prison in France now has to serve 13 years in prison at home, even as his co-defendants have completed their sentences.
On Tuesday, Justice Rickie Burnett ordered the man, Rajiv Deshong, to serve a further 13 years, 5 months and 20 days in prison, the longer of the two sentences handed down in connection with charges dating back to 2014.
A nine-member jury convicted Deshong, who turns 41 in August, of possession of 911,146 grammes (2,008 lbs) of cannabis with intent to supply and drug trafficking of the same amount.
The sentencing came seven years after Justice Brian Cottle imprisoned four men — Daniele Baptiste, then 39, of Owia; Calvert Prince, then 51, of Petit Bordel; Ezekiel Robin, then 38, of Clare Valley; and Denzil Sam, then 32, of Chateaubelair — to 11, 15, 16, and 17 years respectively for the same offence.
The men were found guilty of possession of 907,546 grammes and 3,632 grammes of cannabis with intent to supply, and one count each of possession of the quantities for the purpose of drug trafficking.
The crown had alleged that the men, along with Godfrey Cumberbatch, then a 42-year-old sea captain, of Glen, and Deshong, of Redemption Sharpes, committed the offences in the waters off Chateaubelair.
Cumberbatch was shot and killed at his home in Glen on June 12, 2014, one week before a court hearing in the matter, and Deshong had absconded.
After he absconded, Deshong was jailed in France for 10 years and was prosecuted when he was deported to SVG after serving his sentence.
Presenting the facts at the sentencing at the High Court in Kingstown on Tuesday, Justice Burnett said that on Feb. 20, 204, during a joint Coast Guard and Drug Squad marine operation off the coast of Chateaubelair, officers intercepted a go-fast vessel occupied by six men, including the DeShong.
The Coast Guard had to disable the go-fast boat’s engines to get the occupants to comply with orders to stop.
In handing down his sentence, Justice Burnett noted that the court is guided by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court sentencing guidelines for drug offences.
He said the court ought to follow the guideline and sentence accordingly, unless to do so would not be in the interest of justice.
The court is only permitted to depart from the guidelines in exceptional circumstances, the judge pointed out.
He noted that in arriving at its sentence, the court considered the aims of sentencing, namely retribution, deterrence, prevention and rehabilitation.
A social inquiry report showed that Deshong’s highest level of education is secondary school, where he reached form 4.
He is diabetic and on medication and has experience in automobile repairs and agricultural skills.
He was described as “cool”, “easy-going”, “not rowdy”, “a very nice guy”, and “a highly capable farmer”.
Justice Burnett noted that despite the jury’s verdict after hearing all the evidence, Deshong maintained his innocence.
The court heard that Deshong migrated to Canada in 2009 and returned to St. Vincent in 2012 and worked as a conductor, which led him to be physically attacked because of his place of residence, which the court did not name.
In 2013, he migrated to Guadeloupe and later returned to SVG.
He left St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 2014, hoping to get to Dominica. However, he reached Guadeloupe, where he was arrested and brought before the court in SVG.
After the preliminary inquiry was finished, Deshong left SVG.
The report said he has one dependent daughter, and his family and the members of his community spoke of him favourably.
The court heard evidence from two inmates at His Majesty’s Prison, namely Reynold Roberts and David Legair, as well as the acting Superintendent of Prisons, Dwayne Bailey.
Justice Burnett said the evidence provided by these witnesses speaks to life in prison for inmates with non-communicable diseases such as diabetes.
Bailey gave evidence regarding patient care, medication, access to a proper diet, and the like.
The judge said that, having assessed the evidence of two witnesses for the defendant on sentencing, the court was satisfied that the prison was in a position to and had been providing satisfactory care for prisoners with non-communicable diseases.
“I came to the conclusion based on the evidence given by the superintendent of prisons,” Justice Burnett said, adding that he shall, however, bear in mind the evidence of the two prisoners.
In arriving at a starting sentence for the possession charge, the judge said the court had to consider the weight of the drugs and the role Deshong played.
“From the evidence, I came to the conclusion that the defendant had no influence on those above in a chain, and from the evidence as well, I believe that the defendant had very little awareness of the scale of operation,” Justice Burnett said.
The court noted that the maximum sentence is 25 years’ imprisonment and a fine of EC$5 million.
The court established a starting point of eight years and nine months.
The aggravating factors of the offence were that he attempted to conceal or dispose of the evidence, that the Coast Guard had to disable the boat engine after giving chase and the quantity of drugs, which was worth more than EC$1 million.
The court found no mitigating features and increased the sentence by two years.
Aggravating features of the offender were his relevant conviction for drug offences, including 10 years imprisonment in France, as well as the fact that he absconded from the jurisdiction while on bail in 2014, which caused a delay in this trial of 10 years.
The court found no mitigating features of the offender and held that the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factors, increasing the sentence by a further two years.
The 12 months and 10 days Deshong spent on remand were deducted from the sentence, leaving him a further 11 years, eight months and 20 days behind bars.
On the drug trafficking charge, Deshong faced a maximum of life in prison, a notional sentence of 30 years.
The judge established a starting point of 10 years and six months.
The aggravating features of the offence and the offender, including the 10-year sentence that Deshong received in France for drug trafficking while on bail on a similar charge in SVG in 2014, caused a delay in the trial of 10 years.
The court held that the aggravating features of the offence outweighed the mitigating features and increased the sentence by two years.
It held similarly after considering the features of the offender, and increased the sentence by a further two years, bringing it to 14 years and six months.
After the court deducted the 12 months and 10 days that Deshong had spent on remand, he was left to serve a further 13 years, five months and 20 days.
The judge ruled that both sentences are to run concurrently, meaning Deshong must serve the longer sentence.
