Sharon Ann Shirk, 57, was sentenced in a Trinidadian court Thursday after pleading guilty in June for trying to smuggle 5.3 kilos of liquified cocaine in bottles of wine. Court heard Shirk was already seated on a Caribbean Airlines flight bound for Toronto last June when she was called off the aircraft and asked to identify her red and black suitcase. The mother of two, whose family in Toronto has refused to comment, will serve three years' hard labour at the Golden Grove Jail. Her lawyer Sean Cazabon unsuccessfully pleaded for leniency, citing Shirk's age. Readers of the Trinidad Express newspaper, who were seeking comment on the story posted on their website, were barraged with e-mails calling for a stiffer sentence for Shirk.
"Not sufficient time to serve," one reader wrote. "A Trinidadian caught in a similar crime in Toronto would be getting 15 years." Another reader said Shirk should be forced to serve all her time in Trinidad rather than being extradited to Canada to finish her sentence. "The jail sentence must send a message to others," another wrote. "She must go to jail for longer even though Trinidad has good relations with Canada." Shirk will reappear in Trinidad court on Aug. 15 to face a Customs and Excise Office charge of attempting to export prohibited goods.
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