{"id":5761,"date":"2025-11-10T20:14:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T20:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apexnewssl.com\/?p=5761"},"modified":"2025-11-10T20:14:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T20:14:21","slug":"foreign-national-sentenced-to-30-years-for-cocaine-possession-in-freetown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apexnewssl.com\/?p=5761","title":{"rendered":"Foreign National Sentenced to 30 Years for Cocaine Possession in Freetown"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>By Fatima Sesay<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The Court of Appeal Judge Justice Simeon Allieu on Friday, 7th November 2025, sentenced a Nigerian national, Newton Johnson, to 30 years\u2019 imprisonment for the unlawful possession of 2.9 kilograms of cocaine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Johnson, an engineer by profession, faced two charges: collecting a prohibited drug without lawful authority and unlawful possession of drugs, contrary to Sections 7(b) and 8 of the National Drug Control Act, 2008 (Act No. 10 of 2008).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>During his arraignment, Johnson confessed to collecting and possessing the 2.9 kilograms of cocaine, maintaining his guilty plea despite being given multiple opportunities to reconsider.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>State Counsel O.V. Robin Mason told the Court that on 9th November 2024, in Freetown, Western Area, Johnson was found in possession of the illegal drugs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>He was arrested, interrogated, and subsequently charged with the two counts following a police investigation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>In his plea for leniency, Defence Counsel Alimamy Bangura noted that Johnson had fully complied with the investigation and judicial process. He described Johnson as a young father of two and urged the Court to temper justice with mercy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Delivering judgment, Justice Allieu emphasized the Court\u2019s duty to uphold the law amid rising drug trafficking and substance abuse, which pose serious threats to public health and youth wellbeing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cThe inflow and distribution chains must be completely identified and terminated, and the Court has a role to play in achieving this national fight,\u201d Justice Allieu stated, adding, \u201cWe are committed to eradicating this menace that seeks to destroy the lives of our youthful population.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Johnson was sentenced to thirty (30) years\u2019 imprisonment on the first count and ten (10) years on the second, with both sentences to run concurrently.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Fatima Sesay The Court of Appeal Judge Justice Simeon Allieu on Friday, 7th November&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - 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