The US citizen who was caught at the airport with parcels of cocaine strapped to her lower body, yesterday changed her plea to guilty and was sentenced to four years in prison by Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton together with a fine of $225,000.
When Nadine Chavis of Brooklyn, New York, made her second appearance in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday, she and her lawyer begged the court for mercy.
Last Saturday at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, Chavis had 909 grammes of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
One the day in question at about 16:45 hours, ranks from the Police Narcotics Branch stopped Chavis at the security checkpoint. A search of her person was conducted and parcels of cocaine were discovered strapped between her thighs and on her buttocks.
She was told of the offence committed, arrested and later placed before the court.
When the matter was first called on Tuesday Chavis pleaded not guilty and her lawyer Raphael Trotman asked the court to adjourn the matter until yesterday since there was a possibility that Chavis would adopt a certain course of action.
At yesterday’s hearing, Trotman in a plea of mitigation asked the court to take into account at the time of sentencing that she had pleaded guilty.
He said that his client fits “the classic profile of what we would call a drug mule” and was a vulnerable person who was exploited by unscrupulous drug dealers. The defence counsel added that these drug dealers prey on these vulnerable persons and manage to persuade persons like Chavis to carry narcotics.
Trotman described his client as a victim, adding that because of how the operation was conducted she could not offer information on the identity of the perpetrators.
He said that due to this incident Chavis’s family had been destroyed and her mother who recently suffered three strokes has not yet been told of the incident.
Speaking on his client’s life, Trotman informed the court that she is an unemployed US citizen who is legally blind and has what is called tunnel vision (a condition where she can see only in front of her). He said too that she has no roots in Guyana and no children.
He described his client’s action as a “stupid life changing decision” and later asked the court to grant her the minimum sentence since unlike others, she has no support system from relatives and friends in Guyana.
Trotman told the court that the woman had told him she is extremely disappointed in herself and is sorry for what has happened.
Chavis told the court, “I hope that the government and the US Embassy can forgive me for what I was trying to come here to do. I promise that if I am let go or do my time I will never come back and bring or take any illegal substance from this country. Sorry for all of the trouble that I have caused.”
The magistrate then handed down her sentence and minutes later an expressionless Chavis was escorted by the police down to the court lock-ups.
