Extradition Matters

Feb 13, 2022 News

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The Court Journal…

By Renay Sambach

Kaieteur News – Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or is convicted of a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other’s law enforcement officials. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdictions and depends on the arrangements made between them.

Shawn Neblett
In this article, I will highlight some matters in relation to extradition.
In November 2020, ex-policeman, Shawn Neblett, was handed over to United States Federal Officers to be extradited to face a series of drug related charges in the United States (U.S.).
He was wanted in the U.S. for conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute, importation of cocaine, and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.
The extradition hearing was carried out against Neblett after a wanted bulletin was issued on June 10, 2016, for him in the U.S. in connection with a matter involving trafficking of narcotics through the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri.
According to the indictment, between August 2015 and September 2015, in the Eastern District of New York, Neblett conspired to smuggle cocaine into the US from Guyana.
In August 2015, he was accused of arranging for a courier in Guyana to smuggle cocaine into the U.S. in exchange for US$8,000.
More than a year after, the extradition matter commenced in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty. The Magistrate ruled that there was sufficient evidence against Neblett for him to be extradited to face the court in the U.S.
During the hearing of the matter, Neblett was being represented by attorney-at-law Darren Wade while attorney-at-law Stacy Goodings represented the Government of the United States.
The Guyana Police Force had issued a wanted bulletin for Neblett on February 2, 2017, but he was arrested in May, 2019 at Moleson Creek, Berbice while illegally attempting to cross over to Suriname.
Troy Thomas
In another matter, US fugitive Troy Thomas, was extradited to the United States in April 2019, to face charges for the murder of a 20-year-old Guyanese man eight years prior.
A U.S. Embassy release had stated that Thomas was en route to the U.S. to face justice “for criminal acts he allegedly committed in New York in 2011.” It noted that he was in the custody of the New York Police Department and was slated to appear in court before an American judge.

The Embassy stated that Thomas’ extradition reflects over one year of close coordination between the Government of Guyana and the U.S. Embassy.
Thomas, also known as Marvin Williams, was implicated in the December 11, 2011 murder of 20-year-old Keith Frank, a Guyanese, who was shot and killed outside a party in Richmond Hill, New York.
He allegedly fled to Canada and was apprehended in 2018 in Guyana. He was first ordered extradited on November 30, 2018 by Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus. But he filed an application at the High Court, challenging the Magistrate’s authority to conduct the committal proceedings.
The murder suspect maintained that he was Marvin Williams and argued also that Justice Barlow erroneously made the ruling that he was Troy Thomas. That appeal was dismissed.
In its statement, the U.S. Embassy thanked the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Prison Service, the Minister of Public Security, and the staff at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, “for their close cooperation and commitment to justice.”
Marcus Bisram
Also in 2019, US-based Guyana-born businessman, Marcus Bisram, was extradited from the U.S. Two police officials were sent to the U.S. for the businessman.

He was immediately handed over to federal authorities and was escorted to the JFK International Airport on a flight to Guyana. It was a long haul for Bisram.
He had been in custody since July 2017.
He had asked the New York courts to set him free on the grounds that there was no extradition treaty between the U.S. and Guyana.
However, lawyers for the U.S. government successfully argued that a longstanding agreement between the U.S. and Britain, which had ruled Guyana up to the 1960s still holds.
Bisram had attempted a number of legal manoeuvres to escape extradition to Guyana.
In September 2019, according to the summary order of the US Court of Appeals, it had considered all of Bisram’s remaining arguments and found them to be without merit.
“Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.”
In January 2019, in an ongoing saga, a New York court allowed an extradition appeal by Bisram.
According to court documents of January 24, the US Court of Appeals ordered that the extradition be stayed during the appeal.
The Clerk of Court was directed to place the appeal on the expedited calendar.
Bisram was in the custody of U.S. authorities, after being arrested on July 2017 based on a request of the Guyana government.
He was being accused of ordering a hit on a Berbice carpenter, Faiyaz Narinedatt, a guest at a party he hosted back in late 2016.
Narinedatt was alleged to have been beaten by several men, at the behest of Bisram.
He was pushed into the trunk of a car, taken to the Berbice public road, dumped and run over to make it appear as if it was a hit-and-run.
Bisram was reportedly a close friend to Berbice police, contributing significantly to community policing.
After the incident, police had said, Bisram flew to New York and was not arrested until months later, in July 2017, at a New York beach front property.
The Guyana government had asked the U.S. authorities for his extradition.
An order was made for him to be sent back in 2018 but he immediately appealed. Bisram had migrated to the U.S. years prior, and struck it rich there, travelling back and forth and becoming involved in charity.
His case was being closely watched as it was arguably the first time in many years that someone with U.S. citizenship would be extradited back to Guyana to face charges.
Five other persons were charged for the murder of Narinedatt and have been sent to the High Court for trial before a jury.

 

 

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