Man sentenced to 2 years in prison for drug possession

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a March State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a drug dealer to over two years in prison after convicting him of possessing illegal narcotics in Aqaba in September of last year.

The court declared the defendant guilty of selling illegal narcotics to an undercover agent on September 3.

The court handed the defendant a three-year prison term. However, the court decided to immediately reduce the sentence to 30 months in prison to give the defendant a second chance in life.

The SSC also ordered him to pay JD2,500 in fines.

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) received a tip-off that the defendant was in possession of illegal narcotics.

“The law enforcement agency sent one of its agents to pose as a buyer,” the court documents said. 

The defendant handed the AND agent two portions of illegal narcotics in return for JD10, the court maintained.

The defendant was arrested shortly after the incident, the court maintained.

The defendant contested the SSC’s ruling arguing that the court “did not provide solid evidence to implicate him”.

Meanwhile, the SSC prosecution office asked the higher court to uphold the sentence and the fine imposed on the defendant.

The higher court maintained that the SSC had followed the proper procedures in issuing the sentence against the defendant.

“It was clear to the court that the defendant confessed willingly to possessing the illegal drugs,” the higher court said.

The Court of Cassation judges presiding were Mohammad Ibrahim, Fawzi Nahar, Majid Azab, Ibrahim Abu Shamma and Hayel Amr.