Carol Andrea Gilmore, of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, pleaded guilty to importing more than 200 grams of cannabis resin on November 5.
Carol Andrea Gilmore, of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, pleaded guilty to importing more than 200 grams of cannabis resin on November 5. She also admitted possessing the drug with intent to supply. "I would just like to apologise for my actions," the 41-year-old mother-of-two told Magistrates' Court. "I'm deeply sorry. For the sake of my children and my mom, have mercy on me please." According to Crown counsel Maria Sofianos, Gilmore entered the Island on a commercial flight from Toronto, Ontario around 12.10 p.m. She took one piece of luggage off the conveyor belt at LF Wade International Airport, and left. At 2.10 p.m. that day, the Police Drug Unit Office received information in relation to Gilmore, who was staying at the Clear View Suites & Villas in Hamilton Parish. Officers arrived at the guest cottages where they found the defendant at the front desk, asking for calling cards.
She proceeded to leave the front desk, at which time officers approached her for questioning. Gilmore asked: "Can we do this in private?" She was taken to an office area where she told Police: "I think I have been set up, I have something in my bag, I was sent here by someone." The court heard that inside Gilmore's purse was a grey plastic bag wrapped in white tissue paper containing what she called "little black gum stuff". At 3.32 p.m. the defendant was arrested and cautioned, to which she made no reply. She was then taken to the airport Police Station, where a further search of the plastic bag revealed there were eight small Ziploc bags with four cylindrical gum-like substances in each. A Government analysis of the substance showed it was 208.46 grams of resin and carried a street value in Bermuda of $20,850.
Gilmore was represented by lawyer Rick Woolridge. He said his client had acted "desperately" in a bid to save her sick mother. "In relation to Ms Gilmore, she was taken advantage of. Her circumstances regarding her personal finances is what led her to take this regrettable action. Those are such that her business was failing in this current economy and her mother, who is gravely and terminally ill, was in need of additional monies for her medical expenses. "Ms Gilmore realises what she has done is wrong from the very beginning and prior to receiving counsel has been very helpful towards the Police." Mr. Woolridge asked Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner to deal with Gilmore whose children are 19 and 20 in the most lenient way possible. "Ms Gilmore's paramount concern right now is her dying mother," he said. "We understand the court takes seriously drug importation in relation to this Island, but we are asking the court for as much leniency as possible. In these desperate times people are doing all sorts of desperate things."
The charges carry a maximum penalty of ten years in jail. Mr. Warner took into consideration Gilmore's personal circumstances, her cooperation with Police and her previously good character, before sentencing her to 18 months' imprisonment.
She proceeded to leave the front desk, at which time officers approached her for questioning. Gilmore asked: "Can we do this in private?" She was taken to an office area where she told Police: "I think I have been set up, I have something in my bag, I was sent here by someone." The court heard that inside Gilmore's purse was a grey plastic bag wrapped in white tissue paper containing what she called "little black gum stuff". At 3.32 p.m. the defendant was arrested and cautioned, to which she made no reply. She was then taken to the airport Police Station, where a further search of the plastic bag revealed there were eight small Ziploc bags with four cylindrical gum-like substances in each. A Government analysis of the substance showed it was 208.46 grams of resin and carried a street value in Bermuda of $20,850.
Gilmore was represented by lawyer Rick Woolridge. He said his client had acted "desperately" in a bid to save her sick mother. "In relation to Ms Gilmore, she was taken advantage of. Her circumstances regarding her personal finances is what led her to take this regrettable action. Those are such that her business was failing in this current economy and her mother, who is gravely and terminally ill, was in need of additional monies for her medical expenses. "Ms Gilmore realises what she has done is wrong from the very beginning and prior to receiving counsel has been very helpful towards the Police." Mr. Woolridge asked Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner to deal with Gilmore whose children are 19 and 20 in the most lenient way possible. "Ms Gilmore's paramount concern right now is her dying mother," he said. "We understand the court takes seriously drug importation in relation to this Island, but we are asking the court for as much leniency as possible. In these desperate times people are doing all sorts of desperate things."
The charges carry a maximum penalty of ten years in jail. Mr. Warner took into consideration Gilmore's personal circumstances, her cooperation with Police and her previously good character, before sentencing her to 18 months' imprisonment.
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