Convicted drug trafficker, Raffel Christopher Douglas yesterday returned to Guyana after serving time in a US jail for distribution of cocaine in that country.
He arrived here around midday, according to local law enforcement authorities before being whisked away to the Criminal Investigation Department, Eve Leary where he was processed. It is not clear whether he has been released, although sources close to the former basketball coach said the police had taken a long time processing the convict. Douglas, a former basketball coach here before being arrested had entered into a plea deal with the US government after pleading guilty to the charge. As a result the US dropped four other drug-related charges against the Guyanese and taking into consideration a previous imprisonment in Canada and the time he spent behind bars since his apprehension in 2005, he was released without any sentence. The four charges that were withdrawn were distribution of narcotics from illegal importation and three counts of conspiracy to distribute narcotics. Douglas had been indicted in connection with the shipment of 184 kilogrammes of cocaine, seized at JFK Airport on September 21, 2003.
Attorney-at-law Paul Laymon, who represented the US in the case, had told the court in his response to Douglas’ plea deal that the US believed that offer was fair. He noted that the case boiled down to the testimony of an informant, who could have been skilfully impeached by the defence. Further, Laymon said, the case involved only two kilogrammes of cocaine, though there were some hazy conversations between the confidential informant (CI) and Frederick Hawkesworth (a co-defendant in Douglas’s case) about other deals. “Douglas served seven years in Canada on a case which was eventually overturned and will have served almost three years in this case, meaning he will have been confined for about ten of the past 13 years. His apparent guideline range is not much different from the recommended sentence. Accordingly, the government would urge the court to accept the plea and sentence the defendant in accordance with the plea agreement,” Laymon asserted.
The US said its case against Douglas was based almost solely on the informant’s testimony, as corroborated by several recorded telephone calls with Douglas and the codefendant Hawkesworth, along with several recorded face-to-face meetings with Hawkesworth in which Douglas was discussed.
