Man sentenced to over 1 year in prison for selling drugs

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

The court declared the defendant guilty of illegal drug dealing and handed him a three-year prison term and JD2,500 in fines.

However, the court decided to reduce the sentence to 30 months in prison while maintaining the fine at JD2,500 to give the defendant “a second chance in life”.

Court documents said the defendant was arrested in January of 2020 by Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) agents.

Upon searching the defendant’s phone, court documents maintained, “investigators found texts and photos that proved the defendant was involved in illegal drug dealing operations”.

The defendant contested the SSC’s ruling through his lawyer, who argued that the SSC prosecutor “failed to 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 illegal drugs after the authorities examined his mobile phone,” the higher court said.

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