Drug offender gets jail time [1]
Monday, June 21, 2021 - 17:32. Updated on Tuesday, June 22, 2021 - 09:40.
Kalatoni Kaufusi (59) was sentenced to eight-months imprisonment for possession of 0.12 grams of methamphetamine, seized by Tonga Police who received information that he was selling the illicit drug at Fanga.
Lord Chief Justice Whitten QC sentenced him on June 15, after finding him guillty in a trial at the Nuku’alofa Supreme Court.
The offending was on August 13, 2020, Police received reliable information that the defendant was selling drugs and police intercepted the defendant near Rodney's liquor store at Fanga.
The defendant was approaching a vehicle on the other side of the road with something in his hand.
The Chief Justice said, as he was being apprehended, he threw an empty match box and two smalls packs of methamphetamine on the ground nearby.
He then pretended not to know what the items were or to whom they belonged. The matchbox was identical to a number of others found in his car nearby together, with a number of loose matchsticks found in the console of the car.
After alleging that police planted the drugs or staged the photographs of them that were tendered during the trial, the defendant then gave evidence that he dropped a different matchbox in a different location.That evidence was rejected as recent invention, he said.
Meanwhile, the court heard that the defendant who was raised in San Francisco, California had worked for 36-years as a member of the Teamsters Union, truck driving and working on the docks.
It was during that period that he started using prescription medication to stay awake while truck driving. That led to drug abuse and his involvement with methamphetamines over the past 10-years. He had never received treatment for his drug problem.
The Chief Justice said as indicated in the reasons for verdict, the facts of this case strongly support an inference that the methamphetamine in the matchbox was intended for the purpose of supply.
“In addition, deterrence in cases such as the present is a very important consideration, not just for the defendant himself but for the community as a whole and those within the community who might be considering getting involved or staying involved with illicit drugs,” he said.
The defendant was then sentenced to eight-months but with the final four months suspended for one-year on conditions, from the date of his release.
“Failure to comply with those conditions may result in the suspension being rescinded, in which case, the defendant will be required to serve the balance of his prison sentence,” said the Chief Justice.