American tourist to face 12 years in jail

Denpasar: An American national, 54-year-old Henry Rice Scobee, may face 12 years imprisonment for possessing 0.98 grams of marijuana.

In the initial court session at Denpasar District Court on Thursday, prosecutor Luh Oka Ariani charged the defendant with Law No 35, 2009 Article 111 on narcotics.

“The defendant was illegally keeping the marijuana,” Ariani told presiding judge Agung Ketut Anom Wirakanta.

The defendant, a native of Lake Charles in Lousiana, was arrested at Alex Home Stay in Jl. Raya Legian on May 2.

The police confiscated the 0.98 grams of marijuana, which were kept in a wooden box on a table.

Scobee said that he was a drug addict. The defendant also showed a letter from a clinic in Kuta stating he was undergoing methadone therapy.

The defendant said he accepted the prosecutor’s charge against him.