Businessman fined $30 000 for ammo

For having 50 rounds of .32 Smith & Wesson long rifle calibre ammunition on February 15, 2019 without a valid permit, Joseph Kenneth Jordan was ordered to pay a $30 000 fine.

He has until January 24 to pay the first $10 000 and another year to clear the balance, failing which he will have to spend six years in jail.

Last year a jury returned a 7-2 verdict against Jordan, 70, of No. 33 Flamboyant Avenue, Sunset Crest, St James. Justice Wanda Blair presided over the trial and handed down the sentence yesterday.

The court heard during the trial that police officers executed a search warrant at Jordan’s home and asked him about a safe. He directed them to it and the ammunition was found inside. It was established that Jordan was in fact a licensed firearm and ammunition holder, but not for that specific type of ammunition.

During his evidence from the witness stand, the businessman said he previously owned a .32 Smith & Wesson revolver, which would account for the ammunition which lawmen found. However, he was robbed at gunpoint in 2007 and the Baretta gun stolen from him. He told lawmen that he liked the Baretta and would want to get it back if it was found.

Jordan testified that one of the investigating officers then told him that since the bullets were “no use without the gun”, he should keep them, particularly since police were only just beginning their search for the perpetrators. Jordan said he placed the bullets in his safe from then, until the day police showed up at his residence with a warrant.

State Counsel Maya Kellman said that based on other local sentencing, she would suggest a $50 000 fine for the ammunition, with $12 000 forthwith and the remainder within 12 months, or two years in prison. On the other hand, defence attorney Martie Garnes cited two local cases where 105 bullets were found and the convicted men fined $30 000 and $20 000, respectively.

Justice Blair said the main reason she did not impose a custodial sentence was because Jordan had been the holder of a firearms licence for several years. (SD)

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