One of three men involved in the sale of seven-and-a-half kilos of cannabis was yesterday jailed for 10 years and fined €24,000 after filing a guilty plea.

Jeremy Ciantar, 41, from Sliema, had been charged with 36-year-old Kevin Gatt of Birk-irkara and 68-year-old Francis Bonnett, also of Sliema.

Mr Gatt died during a shoot-out in an unrelated incident last year while Mr Bonnett is still awaiting trial.

In the bill of indictment, the Attorney General said that on October 12, 2008, Mr Ciantar and Mr Bonnett were found in possession of six kilograms of cannabis resin while Mr Gatt had one-and-half kilograms of the drug.

Mr Ciantar and Mr Gatt first went to Mr Bonnett’s house where they gave him a bag containing €16,000 in cash.

From there the men drove to the area near the Salesians in Sliema and Mr Bonnett handed them the drugs, according to the bill.

At that point the police, who were watching the transaction, swooped in and arrested the men.

Mr Ciantar admitted to conspiring to traffic in the drug, trafficking and being in possession of the drug which denoted it was not for his exclusive use.

In the judgment, Mr Justice Michael Mallia said he took note of the plea bargaining between the Attorney General and the accused before deciding on sentence.

If the €24,000 fine is not paid within 15 days it will be converted into a further 18 months in prison.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri were defence counsel.