November 26, 2008 (Page 3 Lead)
THE Accra Circuit Court on November 25,2008 sentenced Isaac Abeidu Aidoo, alias Goodies, to 13 years imprisonment after finding him guilty for a narcotic offence.
Goodies, who is the Managing Director of Goodies Music Productions, swallowed 80 pellets of cocaine and attempted to smuggle them to the United Kingdom on April 23, 2008 but he was arrested at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
He pleaded for leniency halfway through his defence, amidst a stream of tears, at the court’s sitting in Accra.
“I am pleading with the court to give me mercy. I have a young family and I am sorry for disappointing my family,” he told the court.
With tears flowing down his face while in the dock, Goodies, a father of three, looked in his wife’s direction, pleaded for mercy and told the court, presided over by Mr Mahamadu Iddrisu, that he was not a drug dealer.
“I am a very humble person and not a drug dealer. I have never involved myself in drugs. I do not smoke nor drink, so how on earth would I put myself in such trouble? I did not know what I was carrying,” Goodies stated, amidst uncontrollable tears.
The court took into account the fact that he was a first offender and sentenced him to 13 years each on two counts of possession of narcotic drugs without authority and attempting to export narcotic drugs without licence. The sentences are to run concurrently.
The prosecution closed its case on November 20, 2008 and that prompted the court to adjourn to yesterday, November 26, 2008 to enable Goodies to either open his defence or make a submission of ‘no case’.
Goodies, who was arrested at the KIA on April 23, 2008, opened his defence after the prosecution and the defence counsel had announced themselves to the court.
According to Goodies, a spiritualist friend of his, by name Willie, who lived in London asked him (Goodies) to bring something which the spiritualist said was for spiritual purposes and for that matter nobody should see what the thing was.
He said Willie promised to pay him £3,000 if he managed to successfully bring that ‘something’, which he (Goodies) did not specify throughout his defence, to London.
The convict explained that he did not bother to find out what that thing was because he was motivated by the £3,000 which had been promised him.
Goodies explained that he was at the time of the trip raising funds in London and other parts of the world for Ghana’s delegation to the Beijing Olympic Games on behalf of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC).
He further stated that he agreed to send the thing to the spiritualist but did not state the mode through which he carried it.
Goodies told the court that on that fateful day, NACOB officials stopped him and informed him that they suspected him of carrying narcotic drugs.
He said he denied the claim and demanded an examination to be conducted on him, as a result of which he was taken to the 37 Military Hospital for X-ray examination.
The convict said he was later told that he had foreign materials in his stomach, adding that NACOB officials took him to their offices where he expelled the pellets of cocaine he had swallowed.
According to him, he was shocked when NACOB officials later informed him that the substances he had expelled tested positive for cocaine at the Ghana Standards Board (GSB).
At that point, his countenance changed and he began pleading for leniency while looking in his wife’s direction.
His counsel, Mr Oliver Atsu, expressed the defence team’s regret for the delay it had caused in the trial and pleaded for mercy on behalf of his client.
He said Goodies had three children, including twins aged six, as well as a three-year-old, adding that his client had co-operated throughout the trial.
Counsel further stated that Goodies had produced famous musicians like Mzbel, Tic Tac, Nana Quame, 2Face Idibia, among many others, in addition to running a non-governmental organisation committed to the fight against HIV/AIDS.
The court said the defence had been straightforward and stated that it had taken into account the convict’s track record.
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