Man given 60 days for prison contraband

A father who brought two bags of contraband inside Westgate was today jailed for 60 days.

Tyevon Bean, 23, was to be paid $250 for delivering cell phones, rum, tobacco, lighters, candy and more to the prison.

He walked up to the outer perimeter fencing at Westgate on May 15 at 9:55pm.

A prison officer saw someone moving in the outer boundary of the prison on the CCTV and called the police.

Bean, the person seen on CCTV, was then seen entering the facility and run to the inner perimeter while talking on a cell phone.

He was then seen taking objects out of bags just as the police arrived.

Officers began to look for Bean and he was caught hiding in bushes.

Police found him and retrieved two bags.

The bags were filled with five BlackBerry cell phones, one bottle of white rum, three bottles of dark rum, six packages of Samson Tobacco, one package of tobacco, two lighters, two packs of Rizla papers, one pocket knife, two packages of protein powder and candies.

Bean was arrested and said: “I knew something was wrong when I saw the cameras pointed to me.”

Asked why he left the bags on the ground, he said: “I didn’t have time to throw them overboard.

“I was hoping you wouldn't walk down that far.”

When asked about the items found in the bags, Bean said: “Ay, guys up there are like babies, they like candies. They have a sweet tooth.”

The court heard Bean was on a 10pm curfew at the time as he is on probation.

Mitigating for Bean, Victoria Pearman said: “He was taken advantage of by older, more savvy individuals.

“This wasn’t Mr Bean on a frolick of his own. These individuals were older and wanted to get these items in the prison.

“Basically he was naïve enough to allow it.”

Ms Pearman also said her client was desperate to find work.

“He's sad that the promise of a $250 pay day was enough for him to do it. He was offered $250 to throw the items over the prison.”

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner said: “In terms of the sentencing regime, amongst all those things I have considered – personal circumstances, previous convictions, the one thing that sticks out is the deterrent aspect.

“One of the ways to deter these aspects is to let it be known that conviction on these matters will carry an immediate custodial sentence.”

Mr Warner jailed Bean for 60 days for bringing the items into the prison and 30 days for unlawfully being in the prison.

The sentence is from May 16 and the terms are to run concurrent.