Nassau, BAHAMAS-A man busted driving with the wrong license plates paid a $500 fine to avoid spending two months in prison.
Police pulled over Stephen Turnquest on April 29 at Blue Hill Road and Poinciana Drive around 11:15am.
First, officers told Turnquest that they suspected that he had drugs.
They didn’t find any contraband while searching the Honda Accord.
However, the officers noticed that the plates on the car didn’t match its registration.
Turnquest, 29, of Anderson Street, told police that he’d switched plates with his girlfriend.
He pleaded guilty to a charge of fraudulent use of a license disc at his arraignment before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis.
Defense lawyer Fedner Dorestal said that Turnquest made the “foolish decision” to switch the tags on the vehicle after he didn’t renew his license in December 2019.
Dorestal said police stopped Turnquest as he headed home after dropping his girlfriend to work.
He asked the court not to send Turnquest to prison for his “foolish mistake.”
The magistrate said that Turnquest’s actions were criminal and that he intended to “deceive the law.”
Rolle-Davis noted that Turnquest’s first offense was a “foolish” one.
In this regard, he found a fine an “appropriate penalty.”
