[Rainman]

Lesotho national gets 15 years in jail for drugs

TANGERANG (JP): The Tangerang District Court sentenced on Tuesday a Lesotho national identified as Ramakau Jonas, alias Npoto, to 15 years in prison and fined him Rp 300 million (US$28,571) for possession of 50 grams of heroin.

The sentence was much higher than the prosecutors' demands of 10 years in jail and a fine of Rp 1 million.

A panel of judges presided over by Suprapto said that the defendant was proven guilty of receiving the heroin from another African, identified only as KC, to be distributed to someone else on March 3. KC is still at large.

"There are no mitigating factors that could lead to a reduced sentence," Suprapto told the court, which was packed with onlookers as well as TV and print media reporters.

Clad in a white shirt and dark jeans, Npoto said he would "think about the verdict" before deciding whether or not to appeal.

Police arrested Npoto, who is married to an Indonesian woman with whom he has a son, in front of a supermarket on Jl. Juanda in Ciputat, Tangerang on March 4 after a tip-off. (**)