A Supreme Court Assistant Justice informed a St. George's's man of the true meaning of Cup Match before imprisoning him for the next several years.

Assistant Justice Archibald Warner alluded that Prince (Princely) Demi Fubler, 34, was missing the point if he thought he should be celebrating the holiday with drugs.

Fubler, formerly of Cove Valley, was sentenced on two counts of possession of crack cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply in an increased penalty zone last year and another count of possession of cocaine in 2000. Both offences occurred on the eve of Cup Match holidays.

Moments before he was sentenced, Fubler told the Court that the drugs and money Police found in his possession on the day before Cup Match in 2001, were for the Cup Match festivities. "On this particular day I was responsible for picking up the money for the people in the camp at $125 a head. I was also responsible for alcohol and getting the food paid for," he said. "The two quarters of marijuana were for my personal use because it was Cup Match. Everything was celebrating."

Defence attorney Elizabeth Christopher also said a hand-to-hand transaction Police observed between Fubler and another person was part of the process of collecting money for the tent he had for the holiday.

"He also had a list of people from whom he was collecting money. It is my understanding that Police are still in possession of this list," she said.

And she said that Fubler should not be considered an ordinary drug dealer as the cocaine was for someone else.

However, Mr. Warner said: "You think Cup Match is a time to poison yourself and others with cocaine? You know what Cup Match is about? Emancipation (from slavery)! Black people gained their freedom. You are putting yourself in slavery again - slavery to another master, drugs."

And in response to Fubler's claim that he had no intention of supplying the drugs, he said: "What do you think picking up drugs for five mates and taking it to them is?"

The Court heard that Police saw Fubler on his cycle at the stop sign next to the Somer's Supermart in St. George's on August 1 about 100 metres from a public park (Somers Gardens) in a hand-to-hand transaction with another person.

Fubler appeared nervous when Police approached him and asked whether they could conduct a search. They found a bottle of seasoning salt which contained twists filled with 15.73 grams of cannabis worth $775 and 26 rocks or 7.52 grams of crack cocaine with a 75 to 84 percent purity worth $1,300. Police also seized $1,390.37 found in Fubler's wallet.

And on August 2, 2000 Fubler was in Police custody on a separate matter when they received information that there were drugs in his residence. Police searched the house and found a brown paper twist containing a rock-like substance under a pile of clothes. It was found to be .23 grams of cocaine with an 84 percent purity.

Crown counsel Cindy Clarke asked that it be taken into account that Fubler committed the 2001 offences while on Court bail and that it had taken place in an increased penalty zone.

Mr. Warner handed down a sentence of four years for count one in the 2001 offence plus one year for the increased penalty zone and three years plus one year for the increased penalty zone on count two. The sentences were to run concurrently and the month Fubler spent in prison was to be deducted.

For the 2000 offence Fubler was given 60 days to pay a $2,000 fine or spend 12 months in prison. This sentence was to run consecutively to the 2001 offence. The trial extended through most of the day due to legal arguments over whether a confiscation order to examine Fubler's assets had to be carried out before he could be sentenced.

However, the order is pending and was adjourned to a date to be set by the Registrar. It will determine whether Fubler had benefited from any drug trafficking.