Pregnant Canadian woman sent to prison in Jamaica for drugs

Tuesday, December 23, 2003

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (AFP): A pregnant 22 year-old Canadian woman is facing at least a year in a Jamaican jail after pleading guilty on Monday to trying to smuggle a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cocaine out of the country.

Sarah-Lynn Duval, who is seven months pregnant and the mother of a 17-month-old child, was arrested on Sunday after the drugs were found in her suitcase as she boarded a flight at the end of a one-week vacation in Jamaica.

Police found a false compartment in the bag which contained seven packages of cocaine.

Duval, of Toronto, was fined 472,000 Jamaican dollars (7,800 US) and sentenced to a mandatory 12 months in prison after pleading guilty in Montego Bay Resident Magistrates court on Monday to possession of cocaine and attempting to export the drugs.

She was also fined 72,000 Jamaican dollars (1,190 US) or six months in prison for possession, 100,000 Jamaican dollars (1,650 US) or six months in prison for dealing in cocaine and 300,000 Jamaican dollars (4,960 US) or six months in prison for taking steps to export the drug.

Resident magistrate Evan Brown ruled that the sentences were to run consecutively if the fines were not paid.

A tearful Duval apologised to the court before she was sentenced.

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