‘Overlooked’ ammo costs woman $150K
MONTEGO BAY, St James — An American woman was fined $150,000 or 30 days in jail by the St James Parish Court on Tuesday after four rounds of ammunition were discovered inside her luggage at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay a day earlier.
Fatima Roberson, 39, who works in the fraud department of a well-known company in the United States, pleaded “guilty with explanation” to unauthorised possession of ammunition when she appeared before Judge Sasha-Marie Smith-Ashley.
When given the opportunity to speak, Roberson told the court that she was unaware that the ammunition was in the luggage. She also made the point that she does not require a licence to carry a firearm or ammunition in the state where she lives.
“I checked the bag before I left and nothing was there,” Roberson told the court.
She did, however, admit that it could have been a bag taken onto the range with the ammunition inside, but again asserted that she saw nothing inside the bag when she checked it.
Roberson, who did not have legal representation, also informed the court that she has no previous conviction.
In response to the judge’s query about whether she preferred to have the case tried, the American noted that attending the trial would require her to be in Jamaica for an extended period of time. She therefore elected to pay the fine instead.
Before imposing the fine, the judge considered Roberson’s early guilty plea, her record of being of good character, and the fact that she was gainfully employed in an area of the law.
The judge also ordered that her fingerprints not be taken.
According to police reports, about 1:05 pm on Monday, Roberson was preparing to depart the island when an X-ray machine at the main security checkpoint detected anomalies in her luggage.
During a search, the ammunition was discovered in a large compartment at the base of the luggage.
When questioned about the rightful owner of the piece of luggage, she stated that it was her husband’s property, but the contents belonged to both of them.
She was subsequently arrested and charged.
