Ivory kingpin Feisal Mohammed gets 20 years in jail

The Mombasa Magistrate Court has sentenced poaching kingpin Feisal Mohamed to 20 years in jail after he was found guilty of possessing ivory tusks worth Ksh 44 million.

In the ruling delivered by Principal Magistrate Diana Mochache at Mombasa Marine Park KWS premises, Feisal was also fined Ksh 20 million.

However, his four accomplices were acquitted for lack of enough evidence to pin them.

The prosecution, led by Alexander Muteti, had urged the court to give Faisal a life sentence.

As per the law, the offence attracts a minimum sentence of 5 years  and not less than Ksh 1 million fine.

In mitigation, Faisal had, through lawyer Gikandi Ngibuini, requested the court to give the minimum Ksh 1 million fine arguing that he had already served 17 months in remand and has not benefited from the impounded ivory.

Feisal was arrested by Interpol agents in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in December 2014.

Feisal and four others were accused of being found in possession of 2,152 kilogrammes of ivory on June 2nd, 2014 in Tudor, Mombasa.

The other suspects in the case were Abdul Halim Sadiq, Ghalib Sadiq Kara, Praverz Noor Mohamed and Abdulmajeed Ibrahim.