A man was yesterday sentenced to three years in jail and had his six-month suspended jail term converted to an effective jail term after he pleaded guilty to possessing and circulating counterfeit cash.

Paul Lughermo, 51, from Valletta, pleaded guilty to possessing and circulating the counterfeit cash on 23 April in Floriana. He also pleaded guilty to relapsing.

Handing down her judgement, Magistrate Doreen Clarke noted that the man’s criminal record showed that the several chances he was given to get his life back on the right track did not have the desired effect.

She said that Lughermo had 29 convictions on his criminal record, ranging from theft, receiving stolen goods, threats and possessing sharp and pointed instruments, among others.

The magistrate noted that the last conviction he had was handed down on 1 June 2006 when he was jailed for six months suspended for two years.

She said the punishment for possessing and circulating counterfeit cash varied between two years and nine years in jail, which can increase by one degree if the accused is a relapser. She therefore jailed him for three years and converted the suspended jail term handed down in June 2006. Consequently he was jailed for a total of three-and-a-half years, from which the time he spent in preventive arrest should be deducted.

Police Inspector Joseph Cordina prosecuted.