A Montego Bay man who tried to smuggle three pounds of ganja out of the island in the handle of his suitcases was shown lenience when he appeared before the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court Monday.

Robert Cunningham, 42, an electrician and businessman from Paradise, was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for the next two years after he entered a guilty plea to charges of possession, dealing and attempting to export ganja.

He was originally charged with a travelling companioning, Cynthia Woolery from Bethel Town, Westmoreland, who allegedly had 2.75 pounds of ganja in the handle of her suitcases. He had taken responsibility for the contraband found in the woman's suitcase handles. However, the court did not accept his plea after it was revealed that the woman had a previous conviction for a similar matter. She will face trial on February 4.

Begged for lenience

Attorney at law H. Charles Johnson, mitigating on Cunnin-gham's behalf, begged for lenience, saying his client, the father of four children, had learnt a valuable lesson after spending the last three weeks in jail.

He said the accused was given the ganja to take to Curacao for a friend and did it because he did not want to "let down his friend". He said his client was not a bad person and that he had been making an honest living all his life before this unfortunate incident.

Three months in prison

Despite getting the suspended sentence, Cunningham could spend three months in prison if he fails to pay fines of $4,800 for possession and $24,000 for attempting to export ganja.

The facts are that on January 4 he boarded an Air Jamaica flight from Kingston with the intention of going to Curacao. The flight was in transit at the Sangster International Airport, Montego Bay, when his suitcases were x-rayed and irregularities observed. Ganja, weighing three pounds, was subsequently found in the handles of each suitcase.