One man from Bonair, St. Mark with an address in the United States, along with his daughter and another female friend found themselves on the wrong side of the law in connection with the discovery of 13 pounds of marijuana valued at $27, 216.00, and 295 rounds of ammunition during police operations in the communities of Waltham and Bonair in St. Mark.
The suspects are Amazon employee Branford Thomas, along with his daughter Nashaera Antoine and her friend Sherma Charles, who appeared before Magistrate Francine Foster on Thursday facing charges of drug possession, possession of ammunition, trafficking, and handling of a controlled drug.
Attorneys Arley Gill and Deloni Edwards have teamed up to provide legal representation to the three (3) defendants, who were granted various sums of bail when they appeared before the Victoria Magistrate’s Court.
The police prosecution did not object to bail for Antoine and Charles, however, urged the court to deny bail for Thomas, who was nabbed by police on Monday at the Maurice Bishop International Airport (MBIA) while attempting to leave the State.
The police told Magistrate that the lawmen were “extremely fearful” as Thomas was considered a flight risk because he resides in the U.S., and is the holder of a temporary Green Card, and if granted bail may not appear for his trial.
Attorney Gill countered by informing the court that the Prosecution’s “mere” concern is not solid ground to object to bail because his client was “unaware” that he was under investigation, and was in the process of “lawfully leaving the State.”
He reminded the Court that it has granted bail before for larger quantities of illegal drugs and more severe cases, and that although Thomas does not reside on the island, he is a Grenadian citizen with community ties, and is the holder of a Grenadian passport.
He reminded the female Magistrate of her jurisdiction to attach conditions to bail, which can include among other things, the request for persons to surrender all their travel documents.
After much deliberations, Magistrate Foster decided to grant bail to Thomas with one (1) surety for $7, 500.00 on the trafficking charge, $10, 000.00 on the ammunition charges with two (2) sureties, $20, 000.00 on additional ammunition charges, and $20, 000.00 on additional trafficking charges.
Bail was also granted to his daughter with two (2) sureties for $10, 000.00 on the ammunition charges, and $15, 000.00 on the drug trafficking charges, in connection to the discoveries made in Waltham St. Mark, and 10, 000.00 in connection to those made in Bonair.
Charles, who is charged for the handling of marijuana, was granted bail with two (2) sureties on one charge for $10, 000.00, $20, 000.00 on the possession charges, and $10, 000.00 for possession of ammunition.
As part of their bail conditions, they were all ordered to surrender their travel documents to the court and to report to the Victoria Police Station, twice weekly for the females, while Thomas has to report every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
Thomas was also ordered to reside at a particular household in Victoria, St. Mark as part of his bail conditions.
The drug suspects are scheduled to reappear in court on February 3, 2022.