A St. John’s couple – 28-year-old Businessman Garth Thomas, and his female companion 34-year-old, Room Attendant Aldia Louison who were slapped with three (3) firearm and drug-related charges on Monday have been granted bail in the sum of $15, 000 bail for one of the charges and $7,500.00 on the other charge.
The two who made their first court appearance Thursday before Magistrate Francine Forrester at the Victoria Magistrate’s Court in St. Mark are facing charges of Trafficking in a Controlled Drug, Possession of a Firearm and Possession of Ammunition.
Thomas and Louison were arrested at a house at Gouyave Estate in St. John after law enforcement officers discovered one 9mm Pistol, a magazine with four 9mm rounds of ammunition, 379 grams of Cannabis valued at $3,790 and an undisclosed quantity of cash in their possession.
The Gouyave Estate residents were represented in court by criminal defense attorney, Arley Gill before the Magistrate who granted bail to them with no objection from the police prosecution, which indicated that it was not quite ready to proceed with its case against the suspects.
Attorney Gill told the court that he had no objection to bail conditions as set and used the opportunity to point out that his clients, who are both Grenadians had “reputable characters and an impeccable history, (and) posed no significant flight risk issues.”
He also informed the Court that Louison has had no record of convictions, while Thomas only had a record of “minor traffic conditions.”
The couple was granted $15, 000 bail with (2) sureties on the firearms charges and $7, 500 with one (1) surety on the drug-related charge.
As part of the bail conditions, the Magistrate ordered the defendants to report to the Gouyave Police Station every Monday and Friday between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., to surrender their travel documents to the court, and do not leave the state without the expressed permission of the court.
Magistrate Forrester transferred the matter to the Gouyave Magistrate’s Court, and the date set for the next hearing before Magistrate Kina Marrast is May 28.