Two young men now have criminal records for trying to earn an honest living.
With jobs hard to come by, Michael Mackey, 22, and Anejo Curry, 21, both of Constitution Drive, set up a coconut stand.
But the budding entrepreneurs got a rude awakening on July 28, when police shut down their stand on Harold Road and seized their merchandise.
Police charged the men with hawking for offering coconut water and coconut jelly for sale.
Both Mackey and Curry admitted the charge upon arraignment before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt today.
They said they had no idea that they were breaking the law.
Despite their good intentions, the magistrate said they went about starting their business in the wrong way.
As a result, she fined each man $100 or two weeks in prison.
They couldn’t pay the fine right away, so Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt set a payment deadline of August 6.
She encouraged the men to get the necessary permit from the Commissioner of Police to continue their business.