Guyanese pilot Khamraj Lall who is on cash smuggling and cocaine trafficking charges is now facing the revocation of his bail for the violation of its conditions.
He has entered a guilty plea on the cash smuggling charge.
According to court documents seen by Stabroek News, on Friday US Magistrate Judge Marcos E. Lopez heard a motion on the bail violation and the request for an arrest warrant and granted it.
The order says that U.S. Marshals shall notify the Court promptly once the defendant arrives to the jurisdiction for the scheduling of a bond revocation hearing.
The move for the revocation of bail follows two indictments on July 22, 2015 in New Jersey, one of which imply that the bail conditions had been breached.
The court documents say that when he was arrested in New Jersey on July 22nd, Lall was charged with the violation of Title 31 United States Code Sections 5313(a), 5324(a) (1) and Title 18 United States Code Section 2. These relate to currency transactions and the structuring of transactions to evade reporting requirements. These were said to have occurred from October 28, 2011 to November 20, 2014. At the hearing on July 22, Lall pleaded guilty to this count and his sentencing hearing is set for October 27, 2015.
On July 22nd, he was also charged with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms of cocaine. This was said to have occurred in or about December 2013 throughout and including on or about February 10, 2015 in apparent violation of bail conditions. He is to appear in federal court in the Western District of New York on this count.
According to the US Attorney’s office, Lall’s arrest on July 22nd is connected to the arrest of nine other defendants in February 2015. Edward Mighty, Seymour Brown, Andre Taylor, Ricardo Bailey, Robert Wilson, Kenneth Harper, Desmond Bice, and Christopher, all of Rochester, NY, were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and use of a telephone to facilitate drug trafficking. Some of the co-defendants also face weapons charges. Winifredo Gonzales, a Brooklyn resident, was also arrested in February.
According to the complaint, Edward Mighty is one of the leaders of a Rochester-based drug trafficking organization that would obtain kilogram quantities of cocaine from Gonzales.
The Democrat and Chronicle newspaper of Rochester said that the cocaine was transported to Rochester and processed, re-packaged, and distributed in various quantities of both powder and crack cocaine through multiple sellers in the Rochester area.
Searches of Lall’s private aircraft during a refuelling stop at the Luis Munoz International Airport, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on November 22 last year, uncovered US$620,000 stashed on board. Lall was travelling to Guyana at the time.
Lall, authorities had said, accepted responsibility and ownership for the money and informed that his co-pilot and his father, who were travelling with him at the time, had nothing to do with the cash.
According to the grand jury indictment, Lall, with the intent to evade a currency reporting requirement, knowingly concealed more than US$10,000 and transported and transferred and attempted to transport and transfer such currency and monetary instruments from Puerto Rico to Guyana, in violation of United States Code 5332(a) (1) and (2).
In addition to bulk cash smuggling indictment, Lall is also the subject of a forfeiture action brought by the US government for a total of US$442,743 held in 14 accounts controlled by him, his wife Nadinee, his mother or connected businesses. Lall had a private hangar at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri and he had also used his jet to fly former PPP/C President Donald Ramotar to Brazil on an official trip. Following his arrest in Puerto Rico, the PPP/C government had been strongly criticised for its connections to Lall and over his being given a private hangar.
