Supreme Court fell silent yesterday as a man found guilty of importing 500 pounds of cannabis with intent to supply was sent to prison for ten years.

Orion Tuzo, 36, of Boundary Lane, St. George's, dropped his head as Puisne Judge the Hon. Mr. Justice Ground meted out the punishment.

His lawyer Mr. Archie Warner told The Royal Gazette he was not dissatisfied with the sentence, but said there would be an appeal against the conviction.

"The evidence indicates he was not guilty,'' he said.

Crown counsel Mr. Brian Calhoun would not comment on the decision but said he had reported back to the Attorney General who was "considering the propriety of the sentence''.

On Friday the jury found Tuzo guilty of importing the cannabis into Bermuda and possession with the intent to supply, on March 22 last year.

The Crown put the value of the drug at $12 million. At the same time the jury found his wife Karen Tuzo, 33, not guilty of the same charges.

During the nine-day trial the court heard that a shipment of fruit juice and syrup was impounded by Customs officers who were suspicious because it was addressed to Astwood-Dickinson jewellers.

Customs X-rayed the tins and found cannabis inside wrapped in duct tape.

Police opened 1,415 tins and found cannabis in 603 of them.

The Police and Customs obtained a search warrant and went to the Tuzo's home and searched it. During the search they found a piece of paper with three numbers on it, one of which matched the airline bill for the shipment.

The officers also searched a cavity in the ceiling and found more than $40,000 in US bills which Tuzo said he had neither counted nor touched since 1992.

The sentencing marked the end of the second trial the Tuzos had faced after the first was declared a mistrial when it was discovered that two of the jurors had previous drug convictions.

Before Tuzo was sentenced Mr. Calhoun said it was clear the sophistication used in the scheme was designed to make detection and successful prosecution less likely.

Mr. Justice Ground said the drug problem had to be dealt with seriously. He added that it was "a considerable amount'' which required a "severe penalty''.