The Constitutional Court has reduced convicted drug dealer Sheryl Cwele's jail term from 20 to 12 years, a report says.
|||Johannesburg - The Constitutional Court has reduced convicted drug dealer Sheryl Cwele's prison term from 20 years to 12 years, The Witness reported on Wednesday.
On Tuesday the court ruled that Cwele, who is the ex-wife of State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele, receive the same sentence as that of her co-accused Frank Nabolisa.
The two were initially convicted in May 2011 of dealing in cocaine by Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Piet Koen and were each sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment.
The Supreme Court of Appeal later increased their sentences to 20 years.
Nabolisa approached the Constitutional Court, which ruled that the State was required to officially appeal the sentences, before they could be increased in the Appeal Court. Nabolisa’s original sentence of 12 years was reinstated.
In July, Cwele launched a similar Constitutional Court appeal. The bench of 11 judges ruled that her sentence be reduced in light of its findings in Nabolisa's case. - Sapa