Guard gets 2 life terms for shabu

AFP Photo Representation A Baguio City trial court slapped a senior jail officer in Benguet with two life terms after he was found guilty of selling shabu.

Regional Trial Court Branch 3 (RTC-3) Presiding Judge Emmanuel Cacho Rasing, found Senior Jail Officer 1 (SJO1) Donald Tauli Kelly Jr. guilty of violating the anti-illegal drug law of 2002, specifically the provisions on selling and possessing shabu.

Kelly is a member of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) assigned in Itogon, Benguet district jail.

He was sentenced with a life term for illegally possessing over six grams of shabu and another life sentence for selling 1.43 grams to a government drug enforcer.

The drug enforcement unit of the Baguio City Police Office arrested Kelly in a buy-bust operation on September 3, 2017.

In coming up with its decision, the court relied on the strength of the prosecution’s evidence, proving the existence of the elements of the case of selling and possessing illegal drugs.

The court said there was an actual sale of illegal drugs, where the accused was identified as the one who sold it and that the pieces of evidence obtained complied with the rule on “chain of custody” of illegal drugs.

The court also set aside the claim of accused Kelly that he was a victim of instigation.