Narine, whose lawyer on Thursday argued that his client only became involved in drugs as a means to repay a debt, has been in a New York jail since 2003 and he was expected to be one of the main prosecution witnesses had Morgan’s case gone to trial. Narine was extradited from Guadeloupe, where he was serving a seven-year sentence for drug trafficking after being convicted in St Martin.
A sobbing Morgan was sentenced to ten years in prison last week Friday, months after he had pleaded guilty in a New York court to conspiracy to traffic in drugs.
In 2003, Narine was charged along with his wife Susan, his brother William and his sister-in-law Savitree. William was sentenced to time served last year and his wife was given a similar sentence in 2005. David’s wife, Susan, is still awaiting sentencing but was granted bail last year.
It is not clear how long after he was slapped with the charges of conspiracy to import drugs into the US and conspiracy to possess drugs in 2003 that Narine pleaded guilty, but, in a handwritten letter on June 15, 2009, he appealed to Judge Korman in the US District Court in Brooklyn for an early sentencing date.
‘Facilitator’
On Thursday, through his lawyer, Deveraux Cannick, in a sentencing memorandum seen by this newspaper, Narine said he was no “leader” or “organiser” of any drug organisation but merely a facilitator who assisted the drug owners to move cocaine into the US. He said the cocaine in question did not belong to his client as he was simply working off a debt obligation to the “co-defendants.”
According to Cannick, Narine was a legitimate businessman who not only owned a grocery and commercial properties but also a mining business. “His involvement in the instant offence was not a result of greed or desire to lead a life of glamour and glitter. He had borrowed monies from an individual to put into his struggling mining business,” Cannick said. He added that when his client was unable to repay the monies, the individual-who is suspected to be Morgan- told him he could repay the debt by assisting in moving drugs into the US, Canada and Great Britain. These were the same destinations Morgan confessed to sending narcotics to. “David Narine not only learned that this individual from whom he borrowed monies was a drug dealer, but also a very dangerous person… This individual, as well as others whom he brought to David, were quite notorious,” the lawyer said. He continued that the person’s reputation for violence was well known throughout Guyana and as far as his client was concerned “…there was no getting away from them and protection by the Guyanese Government was not an option.”
The drugs Narine shipped, Cannick said, did not belong to him or his family members as he had no involvement in the narcotics trade prior to his introduction to “these individuals,” and to being made an offer he thought he could not refuse. “He quickly came to the realisation that his (acquiescence) would forever change his life. He was now firmly in bed with individuals that he was deathly afraid of. His involvement exposed both he and his entire family to grave danger,” the lawyer submitted.
He said his client was initially arrested and convicted in St Martin–the French half of the Caribbean island shared with The Netherlands-and was sentenced to seven years in prison.
It was while he was serving that sentence in 2003 the US filed an extradition warrant for him and he was eventually extradited to that country.
Cannick said Narine’s prosecution was well publicised here and it was suggested that he was cooperating with the US government. “There came a time when his children were confronted [in Guyana where they were pretty much self-sufficient on their own] by an individual thought to be associated with the drug lords for whom David worked,” the lawyer said. The confrontation was of such a serious magnitude, the lawyer said, it prompted the US government to spirit the children out of the country that very weekend and they have been in the US since. He pointed out that Narine’s wife is a co-defendant and was also incarcerated until last year when she was granted bail.
Meanwhile, Cannick said the adjustment for the children in the US has not been an easy one and they have been forced to face several serious issues. He said his client, who prior to his incarceration shared a very good relationship with his children, agonises over not being able to provide for and to protect them. “He always prided himself as being an excellent Dad. He beats himself up daily for being in this predicament and not being at home to protect and support his children.”
The lawyer pleaded with the judge to show mercy and said his client would have to spend the rest of his life “…wondering if the person walking towards him or behind him has been sent to do him harm. He said Narine’s concern is not a stretch, since Robert Simels (whom he did not name but referred to as an officer of the court) has been tried and convicted for conduct that threatened the safety of witnesses. Simels, who represented drug kingpin Roger Khan, was last December sentenced to 14 years in prison after being found guilty of witness tampering and other related charges.
‘Done everything’
Narine, Cannick said, also worries for his extended family and since his case has been well publicised here and “given the danger in his homeland” it is extremely unlikely that he or his family would return to Guyana. “He must leave his home, his businesses, and his assets and start anew. He must start with very little wealth, education, skill or trade. He must start during one of the worst economic periods in our history,” the lawyer said as he continued to plead for a short sentence for his client.
Before he pleaded guilty, Morgan had singled out David and Susan Narine for special mention and had charged in court documents that they were the real drug traffickers and that he was innocent. In a letter last year, Narine had told the judge that he had done everything within his power to assist the federal government in “what they have requested.”
Like most of his co-accused in the case, the majority of the documentation is under seal so it is not clear what assistance he provided to the government. In his letter, Narine told the judge that he has been incarcerated since 2003 and that his wife, Susan and children were suffering and unable to visit with him. “I am confused as to why I haven’t been sentenced regarding the matter of the alleged charges against me…” he had said.
Narine had also said he was “truly sorry for the great mistakes I’ve made in my life and have been utilising my time wisely in an attempt to prevent any future violations of the law. In doing such, I read and study God’s word on an every day (basis), and have also become the overseer (or pastor) of the church within our unit….”
