Harare — Self-styled "Chief" Newman Chiadzwa was yesterday sentenced to an effective five-year jail term and a US$132 764 fine for possessing 43 028 carats of diamonds.

He appeared before Mutare provincial magistrate Mr Billard Musakwa.

Chiadzwa was convicted last Friday and was given up to June 30 to pay the fine or risk having his property attached in terms of Section 348 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.

Mr Musakwa took into consideration Chiadzwa's previous convictions, which date back to 1971, and the quantity of diamonds involved.

"No such amount of diamonds has been recovered from an individual across the whole country.

"This case therefore deserves special treatment. We are dealing with a person who does not fear to be at crossroads with the law.

"He has had brushes with the law since 1971 and the time has come for the courts not to feel any pity for the accused person.

"I am therefore sentencing him to both a fine and a jail term."

Chiadzwa's wife and relatives wept when the sentence was read out.

Mr Ndlovu also applied for bail pending appeal and the application will be heard on Friday at the Mutare Magistrates' Courts.

Sentencing was initially set for Monday, but the State -- led by Mr Nelson Makunyire -- applied to have the United States dollar value of the diamonds ascertained.

When the case started, the stones were valued at Z$16 595 672.

Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe gemologist Mr Simangaliso Makoni said the US dollar value was US$66 382 using the then official exchange rate of Z$250:US$1.

Mr Makunyire stunned the court when he produced a detailed criminal record dating to June 1971 when Chiadzwa was still 15.

In his last convictions of illegal possession of diamonds and gold, he was sentenced to a fine of Z$500 or 15 days in jail.

Mr Makunyire said Chiadzwa's 2008 conviction, which involved unlawful possession of diamonds and gold while he was on bail, showed the propensity with which the accused broke the law.

"He is unrepentant and not a law-abiding citizen. Your Worship, I am urging this court to take (his) criminal record seriously and not to treat him with kid gloves.

"We are talking of more than 8kg of diamonds and you can imagine how much the country will lose if we happen to have 10 individuals of the accused's character?

"The country will lose quite a fortune," he said.

By The Herald