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General News of Thursday, 15 April 2021

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Akuapem Poloo facing 3-year jail sentence – Lawyer reveals

Actress Akuapem Poloo Actress Akuapem Poloo

Actress and social media influencer Akuapem Poloo could spend a maximum three years in prison, a lawyer has proffered.

The actress was on Wednesday, April 14, 2021, convicted for sharing lewd pictures of herself and her son.

Speaking in a Citi FM interview, private legal practitioner Bernard Owiredu Donkor disclosed that the actress could be jailed for three years.

He explained that the offence is classified as misdemeanour and that a strong case built from her lawyers could earn her a reduced sentence.

According to private legal practitioner, Bernard Owiredu Donkor, Akuapem Poloo can only face a maximum sentence of three years as her offence was a misdemeanour.

“The offence she was charged with is a misdemeanour, and with a misdemeanour, you could be fined, you could be cautioned, and you could go a for a custodial sentence. But when a judge directs that you take a pregnancy test, as they do for female convicts, it means that we are in for a custodial sentence because the idea is that you don’t put a pregnant woman in jail,” he said.

He noted that the responsibility lies on the lawyers of Akuapem Poloo to convince the judge on why it will be appropriate to hand her a sentence less than the three years.

“Counsel is supposed to make a submission on behalf of the convict, which we call a plea of litigation, for the court to avert its mind to certain circumstances of the convicted person…If the judge finds that the plea for mitigation is something that she could consider, it could come in to mitigate the sentence.”

“For misdemeanours, it is between a caution and a maximum of 3 years…Looking at the circumstances we have right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if she is given a custodial sentence, and it could be one day to three years,” the lawyer said.