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Peter Morgan throws in the towel
– faces 10 years to life
Two years after drug agents seized and extradited him to the United States, Guyanese auto dealer and race car driver, Peter Morgan, has accepted a plea bargain to charges of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States, and to distribute the controlled substance in the United States.
Peter Morgan
Morgan accepted the plea yesterday in the Eastern District Court of New York (Brooklyn) just a few months after a similar plea was entered by self-confessed dealer Roger Khan.
By accepting the plea, Morgan, 42, has given up his right to appeal any sentence imposed by the judge, which could range from 10 years to life imprisonment.
According to reports, Morgan told the court that he was “fully aware of what the situation was”.
His US attorney, Alan Futerfas, told the court that a plea deal was worked out with prosecutors a week ago, and his client was fully aware of the consequences.
According to one of the charges, some time between October 1, 2001 and August 31, 2003, Morgan conspired with David Narine, Susan Narine, Hung-Fung Mar and other persons unknown, to knowingly and intentionally traffic in cocaine by importation.
The second charge alleges that some time between December 1, 2001 and August 31, 2003, the defendant, Peter Morgan, together with others, did knowingly and intentionally conspire to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance. This offence involved five kilograms or more of a substance containing cocaine.
On Friday, March 9, 2007, US drug enforcement agents working with Trinidad authorities, seized Morgan at Piarco International Airport. This occurred two days after an indictment was unsealed in a New York court, charging him with three counts of drug conspiracy.
The indictments were unsealed on Wednesday, March 7, 2007 and an arrest warrant was issued the same day for the Guyanese.
Morgan, a principal in Morgan’s Auto Sales of Oleander Gardens, was said to be under surveillance by US authorities for a number of years, after several run-ins with law enforcement and his name had been on a list of Guyanese that the US is aiming to place before American courts on drug charges.
Morgan was also charged in December 1999 following an arms bust at the John Fernandes Wharf in Georgetown, when members of the Guyana Police Force and the Customs and Excise Department, unearthed 14 firearms including semi-automatic weapons, pump-action rifles and revolvers in a container consigned to the businessman.
Also, ranks recovered over 3000 rounds of ammunition in the container, which had been shipped from Miami, Florida by Nankumar Budhan to Morgan.
On December 21, 1999, Morgan and John Budhan, a US-based Guyanese, appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court to answer charges in relation to the guns and ammunition find.
They both pleaded not guilty to two joint charges of attempting to import concealed goods and being knowingly concerned in the importation of restricted goods.
Police had said that acting on information, they searched a 20-foot container on the John Fernandes wharf. A thorough examination unearthed the guns and ammunition stashed in the body of a Toyota Tacoma pick-up and the container.
On January 20, 2000 Budhan, who had shipped the container in which the guns and ammunition were found, pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to one year in prison on all five of the charges. But he only spent one year, since the sentences ran concurrently.
The charges against Morgan were dropped on the advice of the DPP.
The arrest of Morgan and Budhan had followed closely on the heels of the arrest of Morgan’s brother, Terrence Morgan, and two other relatives, Nevita Khan and Jaiprakash Shivdass.
They were charged with unlawful possession of ammunition. They were allegedly caught with more than 13,000 rounds of various types of ammunition at a house in Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara.
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