By Stanley Ugagbe
Governor General Sir Patrick Allen has granted an early release to a Canadian man who was sentenced to two years and six months for attempting to smuggle 20 pounds of cocaine from Jamaica.
A statement from King’s House, the governor general’s official residence, stated that the man, John Edwards, has left Jamaica under special conditions and at a cost to the Canadian Government.
It would be recalled that Edwards had appeared in the St James Parish Court in November 2018 after being arrested in September when he was caught attempting to export the cocaine to Canada.
Found guilty, a mandatory two-year imprisonment was among the penalties handed down to Edwards and he was fined $1 million or six months’ imprisonment for possession of cocaine and $2 million or six months’ for attempting to export cocaine.
It was specified that the sentences were to run consecutively to the mandatory sentence if the fines were not paid.
But in the news release, King’s House said Edwards was scheduled for release on July 6, 2020.
It was disclosed since imprisonment he maintained a record of discipline and good behavior with no breach of rules.
We gathered from the King’s House statement that the current COVID-19 pandemic and its uncertainty, particularly as it relates to travel, also influenced the governor general’s decision to exercise the prerogative of mercy.
Delineating on the development, King’s House averred that in exercising the prerogative of mercy — including the power to grant pardon to any person who has been sentenced to death — the governor general acts on the advice of the Jamaican Privy Council. Also, the governor general exercises the prerogative of mercy on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen.
