A 71-year-old grandmother, who was convicted earlier this month for cocaine-trafficking, yesterday was ordered to spend two more weeks in prison while she awaits sentencing. During her mitigation plea before Justice Carla Brown-Antoine yesterday, Grace Pierre-Holder's lawyer, Theodore Guerra, SC, said the court should consider his client's age and give her a non-custodial sentence.
He said a fine was the appropriate punishment considering his client's ailments, which included diabetes and a thyroid disorder. Prosecutor Renuka Rambhajan, countering Guerra's claims, summoned two medical practitioners attached to the Prisons' Service. Drs Vinod Mahabir and Travis Mohammed testified the prisons were adequately equipped to treat Pierre-Holder's conditions.
She was jointly charged with 29-year-old Deanah John-Finn, of Old Southern Main Road, Claxton Bay, for possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. Attorney Ravi Rajcoomar, who represented John-Finn, also used age as the basis of the mitigation plea. He asked the court to consider that his client committed the offence when she was 18.
They were convicted by an eight-member jury in the Port-of-Spain High Court on May 3. Pierre-Holder and John-Finn were arrested on February 10, 2000 at Piarco Airport by officers of the Organised Crime, Narcotics and Firearms Bureau (OCNFB). When they were arrested they were with Pierre-Holder's daughter, Michelle Leslie, also of Claxton Bay, and John-Finn's boyfriend, Jason Connell.
They were scheduled to board a flight to Miami, Florida, en-route to London, England. Plastic packets of cocaine were found hidden in the soles of their shoes. After being charged with drug-trafficking, Leslie and Connell elected to have their matters tried in the Arima Magistrates' Court. They were both fined. Pierre-Holder also was represented by John Heath.