Ex-premier of British Virgin Islands trial postponed again

MIAMI – A Miami judge has postponed to January 29, the trial of the former premier of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), Andrew Fahie who is facing charges of drug smuggling, money laundering and racketeering.

The trial was due to have started on Monday after being pushed back by two weeks on January 8. But Justice Kathleen Williams announced in a paperless motion that it has been moved back by a further week.

The judge was expected to hear arguments from both sides about introducing foreign law jury instructions and expert witnesses into the trial, the issue of hearsay testimony, a possible entrapment defence and other matters that recently arose.

Fahie’s attorney, Theresa Van Vliet, asked the court to dismiss what she described as the prosecution’s ‘eleventh-hour’ motions that were filed three weeks before the start of the trial. She argued that the motions raised several crucial issues for the first time.

Fahie was arrested in April 2022, along with former BVI Ports Director Oleanvine Maynard  after he allegedly conspired with Maynard and her son, Kadeem Maynard and agreed to allow large amounts of cocaine to pass through the ports of the British Overseas Territory.

United States (US) prosecutors say that the scheme was part of a multi-million dollar deal the former premier  allegedly made with an undercover informant of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), who was posing as a drug trafficker at the time.

Kadeem was recently sentenced to 57 months in prison after accepting a plea deal for his role, while his mother, who has also pleaded guilty and accepted a plea deal, is expected to be the prosecution’s main witness.

Fahie faces a possible life imprisonment if convicted on the charges brought against him and has been confined to his daughters’ home in Miami, as part of his one million dollar bail. (CMC)

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