BAGUIO CITY -- A trial court here slapped a senior jail officer in Benguet with two life terms after he was found guilty of selling shabu and possessing some more.
Regional Trial Court Branch 3 (RTC-3) Presiding Judge Emmanuel Cacho Rasing, in a 21-page decision promulgated on June 20, a copy of which was obtained on July 9, 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 Jr., a member of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) assigned in Itogon, Benguet district jail and a resident of Ucab, Itogon town, 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.
“What occurred was an entrapment and not instigation," the court said. "In drawing the accused to the transaction sued upon, the apprehending team employed a scheme of pretending to be Rowella Delfin, who was allegedly earlier entrapped selling shabu and who purportedly revealed that her source was herein accused. The scheme falls within the category of decoy solicitation. The volume of shabu produced by the accused, when he agreed to see the poseur-buyer, as well as the extra volume he had in his sling bag, and the speed with which he was able to produce the same after his initial contact with the poseur-buyer evidently shows that the accused is actively engaged in the illicit drug trade.”
Jail Chief Inspector Crispin Dornagon on Monday said Kelly is still detained at the BJMP-Baguio City Jail's male dorm.
Documents from the court ordering his transfer to the national penitentiary is still being awaited before he can be transported to Muntinlupa in Metro Manila. (PNA)
