Drug dealer sentenced to 4 months in prison

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a December State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a man to four months in prison after convicting him of selling illegal narcotics to an undercover agent in Rusiefeh in June 2021.

The court declared the defendant guilty of possessing and selling three Captagon pills to an Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) agent on June 15 and handed him a six-month prison term.

The court also ordered him to pay JD1,000 in fines.

However, the court decided to reduce the sentence to four months and the fine to JD700 to give the defendant “a second chance in life”.

Court documents said AND investigators learned that the defendant was in possession of illegal narcotics and sent one of its agents to pose as a buyer.

“The AND agent purchased the illegal drugs in return for JD5,” the court documents said.

The defendant contested the SSC’s ruling through his lawyer, who argued that the court “did not provide solid evidence to implicate his client”.

The lawyer also charged that the AND agents who testified in court "provided contradictory statements regarding the alleged selling operation".

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 sentences 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, Hayel Amr, Fawzi Nahar, Ibrahim Abu Shamma and Majid Azab.