A P100 worth of shabu has brought 34-year-old Ali Ramas to a lifetime in jail after the court found him guilty of selling the regulated drug four years ago.
In his decision handed down yesterday, Judge Meinrado Paredes of Regional Trial Court Branch 13 also ordered Ramas of Bato, Carbon, Cebu City to pay a P500,000 fine.
Ramas was nabbed during a buy-bust operation by police on October 3, 2004 for selling 0.04 grams of shabu in sitio Bato, Carbon, barangay Ermitam, Cebu City but had pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The prosecution then presented the arresting officers, PO2 Reynaldo Labating and SPO1 Necito dela Victoria, to the witness stand.
Ramas, the court said, interposed general denial but admitted that he was charged of the crime of robbery twice and that he is serving the sentence.
He also admitted that he was a known extortionist in the area where the buy-bust operation took place.
Likewise, the court said Ramas’ unreliable testimony was uncorroborated by any credible witness. — Jasmin R. Uy/JMO