Man sentenced to over 1 year in prison for selling illegal narcotics

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an April State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a drug dealer to over one year in prison after convicting him of selling illegal narcotics to an undercover agent in Amman in November 2020.

The court declared the defendant guilty of possessing and selling hashish in the local market in mid-November.

The SSC handed the defendant a three-year prison term for the offence of possessing illegal narcotics and ordered him to pay JD3,000 in fines.

However, the court decided to reduce the sentence to 14 months in prison and reduced the fine to JD1,200 to give the defendant “a second chance in life”.

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) 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 JD10 and was arrested as a result,” 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”.

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.