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Airport technicians to serve jail time for cocaine in rum
– fined over $17M
Two former airport technicians who were convicted over two weeks ago for trafficking cocaine in rum
Keon Brewster
were on Monday jailed by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, after probation reports in their favour were presented to the court.
Chris Douglas, 26, of Timehri, East Bank Demerara and Loric Williams, 24, of Lot 57 Prospect, East Bank Demerara, were convicted for having 6.34 Kg of cocaine in their possession for the purpose of trafficking on May 29, 2015 at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) Timehri. The cocaine was found concealed in three bottles of 5-year-old rum.
Douglas was jailed for four years and eleven months while Williams was sent to prison for four years. In addition, they were each ordered to pay a fine of $17.2 million–three times the street value of the drug.
Before passing sentence on Williams the Magistrate took into consideration the time he had spent on remand; Douglas had been out on bail.
Another man, Keon Brewster, of Joseph Pollydore Street, Lodge, was also charged with the offence. However, he pleaded guilty at his second court appearance and was sentenced to four years in prison and fined the same sum as the other two.
Brewster is an American citizen. He was an outgoing passenger on a Dynamic Airways flight, destined for John F. Kennedy Airport, USA. Airport. Officials conducted routine checks on Brewster and the three bottles of El Dorado Rum were found in his hand luggage. The rum was probed because the contents of the bottles appeared peculiar.
Loric Williams
The substance in the bottles tested positive for cocaine after field tests were conducted.
As a result, Brewster was arrested and told of the offence. He later implicated Douglas and Williams. Police reviewed CCTV footage from the airport, which showed Brewster and Williams leaving the airport washroom area acting in a suspicious manner.
They later provided police with caution statements admitting to the offence.
The findings of the probation reports were read aloud in court.
The probation report in favour of Williams stated that he was born at the Davis Memorial Hospital. It stated that his parents who were married for a number of years had their marriage dissolved when Williams was five-years-old.
It revealed that the convict attended the Stella Maris Primary School and later wrote the Secondary School Entrance Examination (SSEE) and was awarded a place at the New Campbellville Secondary School.
However, the report stated that Williams only attended the institution for two years and later pursued an eight-month course in air conditioning. He then gained employment at the Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC).
The report pointed out that the father of one made attempts to write the Caribbean Secondary Education
Chris Douglas
Certificate (CSEC) while working but his attempts were unsuccessful. Investigations done in Williams’ neighbourhood revealed that he was a very respectful person.
Persons in the community found it astonishing that he was before the courts on a drug trafficking charge. Persons at his place of work testified that he was a very hardworking individual who might have been influenced by the wrong company.
As it relates to Chris Douglas, the probation report stated that his mother was surprised that he was charged and placed before the courts because he hardly socialized. According to the report, the defendant’s mother is dependent on him physically and financially due to the fact that she has been battling breast cancer for a number of years.
It said that Douglas attended the Tutorial High School where he gained five subjects at the CSEC. In 2007, he pursued a diploma in air conditioning at the Government Technical Institute (GTI) and secured employment at the Antarctic Air Conditioning.
The probation report pointed out that Douglas professed his innocence and regretted being at the upper level of the airport lounge on the day in question.
In her ruling, Magistrate McLennan affirmed that Douglas and Williams’s intention was to assist Brewster with taking the cocaine out of the country. She added that the court was satisfied that cocaine was found in the three bottles of rum and that they had knowledge of it.
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