Fredrick Ekisa Carlos when his appeal against life imprisonment was allowed by a Kerugoya court and reduced to 15 years for trafficking narcotics.[Munene Kamau]
A convicted drug trafficker sentenced to life in prison has successfully appealed against the lengthy sentence.
Fredrick Ekisa Carlos, 58, had been charged, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment by a Kirinyaga court.
The court had also slapped Carlos with a Sh1 million fine.
But Kerugoya High Court Judge Lucy Gitari said the sentence imposed on Carlos was excessive and instead ordered him to serve a 15-year jail term.
READ MORE
Woman sues brother-in-law over husband's multi-million estate
Win for City politician Francis Mureithi in Sh320 million case
Court suspends directive on macadamia harvesting, export
High Court strikes out rules giving CA powers on television content
Justice Gitari also noted that the Sh1 million fine the lower court had imposed on the appellant was excessive compared to the street value of the drugs the accused was found transporting in his vehicle.
“The standard practice is for the court to issue a fine three times the value of the drug impounded. In this case, Carlos was found transporting 1,322 stones of cannabis sativa with a street value of Sh292,880. The fine should not have exceeded Sh800,000,” Justice Gitari ruled.
Carlos had been found guilty of trafficking in narcotics on October 29, 2013 after he was arrested in his Toyota Platz saloon car at Mururi area along the Mwea-Embu Road.
The prosecution led by Geoffrey Obiri had stated that Carlos was flagged down by the police but failed to stop, only for his vehicle to veer off the road and land into a ditch.
