St Vincent musician fined EC$2,300 over 25 plants and 1,008 g cannabis
Samuel James was fined a total of EC$2,300 at St Vincent’s Serious Offences Court after pleading guilty to cultivating 25 marijuana plants at Carib Mountain and possessing 1,008 grammes of cannabis for supply. An RSS patrol found him planting the crop on 5 June 2017; James said he grew marijuana for his music and also to sell and make wine.
🇻🇨 Serious Offences Court, Kingstown, St Vincent · Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samuel James pleaded guilty to cultivating 25 marijuana plants at Carib Mountain
on 5 June 2017.[1]He also pleaded guilty to possessing 1,008 grammes (2.22
pounds) of cannabis with intent to supply it to another person.[1]The court
heard that Regional Security System (RSS) members were patrolling Carib Mountain
on 5 June when they saw James in a marijuana field with a cutlass.[1]The
officers watched him planting cannabis, approached him and uprooted 25 plants.[1]
James told police, “Officer, I am a musician and I plant weed to further my
career.”[1]During mitigation, he said he combined legitimate farming with
marijuana cultivation at Carib Mountain and grew plants in the hills to sell and
make wine.[1]He asked the court to impose a fine and give him time to pay.[1]During the trial, he asked Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne-Matthias
whether she had tried marijuana wine, and she replied, “No thank you. I am not
into that at all.”[1]
The magistrate noted James had no criminal record, credited his honesty and said
he would not receive a custodial sentence.[1]She fined James EC$800 for
cultivating the plants and EC$1,500 (US$555) for possessing the cannabis.[1]The magistrate said the possession fine was a sizeable reduction from a likely
EC$2,600.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Charged
1
Plants destroyed
25
Cannabis
1.008 kg
Fine
XCD 2,300
Agency type
Police, Court
Cannabis
Herbal cannabis (1.008 kg); Living plants (25 plants)
The date of the sentence is not specified; 9 June 2017, the publication date, is used as the report date, while the offences were dated 5 June.
Only one opened account of this case was found.
The court outcome does not establish whether James was given time to pay or whether the fines were paid.
The field’s area and the value of the plants were not reported.
The feature image is captioned only with the article headline and has no credit, so it cannot be established as showing this event.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Jamaica Observer: James said ganja wine, which he made at home, was his drink of choice and that he preferred it to alcohol.
Police arrested and charged 36-year-old labourer Julian Williams of Cane Garden after allegedly finding 37,228 grammes of cannabis in his possession on 21 October 2026. He pleaded not guilty at the Serious Offences Court on 22 October and received EC$10,000 composite bail with weekly reporting and travel restrictions until 23 November.
Police charged two farmers and a delivery clerk over 80,812 grammes of cannabis resin allegedly found in Largo Height. All three pleaded not guilty at the Serious Offences Court and received $20,000 ECC bail each until 19 November 2026.
St Vincent's Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne convicted and sentenced three men over 644 lb (292.4 kg) of cannabis found in 13 nylon sacks on the yacht Panasea, chased from Fancy into St Lucian waters in February 2019. Bristol got four years and seven months, Alexander two years and eight months and Allen one year and four months, with time already spent in prison deducted.
Charged 3Convicted 3Cannabis 292.376 kgPrison 4 years 7 months (Bristol)
Lucas Crosby, a 63-year-old Grenadian, pleaded guilty at St Vincent's Serious Offences Court to possessing 64 grammes of cannabis with intent to supply, drug trafficking and attempting to export it after a search at Argyle International Airport. Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne-Matthias fined him $300, $500 and $500, and he paid the $1,300.
