A man has been found guilty of trafficking in persons and sentenced to prison.
Forty-four-year-old Tito Browne, known as ‘Tommy’ and ‘Yankee’, was found guilty of trafficking two Jamaican nationals and sentenced to two 4-year terms of imprisonment when he appeared at the Linden Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Wanda Fortune after an eight-month-long trial which began in December 2021 and concluded in August 2022. He was also sentenced to one year’s imprisonment on the count of withholding the passports of the two Jamaican nationals. He was also fined $200,000 and ordered to pay restitution totalling $6,300,000 to the victims.
The case was prosecuted by the Assistant Superintendent Vernette Pindar-Whittaker, and the two 4-year terms are to run concurrently.
Background
On April 28, 2021, Browne was arrested and charged after the Guyana Police Force issued a wanted bulletin for him on April 27, 2021.
The court heard that in November 2020, one of the victims met an individual in Trelawney, Jamaica, who indicated to him that Browne had some farming work for him to do in Kara Kara Creek, Guyana, and that he (Browne) was willing to pay US$5000 for the work to be done. The first victim then informed the second victim about the opportunity, and together they made an arrangement with Browne, who promised to facilitate all their travel expenses. They then left Jamaica on December 12, 2020. When they arrived in Guyana, they were instructed by Browne to inform immigration that they would only be spending two weeks.
Upon arriving at the campsite at Kara Kara Creek, Browne informed them that they would be spending six months at the campsite and confiscated their passports.
The victims recounted that from their date of entry to April 24, 2021, they worked at the Kara Kara camp but never received any form of compensation from Browne.
They added that Browne would visit periodically and demand that they work more diligently. He also continuously promised to pay them but never did so. The duo stated that they were only be able to contact their family on Browne’s phone when he came to visit. They related not being able to travel from the campsite and that for the last three weeks, no one visited them, which caused their supplies to run low.
Eventually, the victims were forced to venture from the camp in search of other campsites, walking through the bush and swamps until they managed to locate a logger who eventually took them to a village where they related their story and made a police report.
An investigation was immediately launched which eventually led to Browne’s arrest and prosecution.
Only recently, the police secured a conviction against Feezal Shaw, a wildlife trader who was sentenced to three years imprisonment on one count of human trafficking and ordered to pay two million, one hundred and twenty-seven thousand dollars ($2,127,000) in restitution to the survivor.
