Prosecutors name other participants in Fahie's cocaine trafficking plot, ex-PM could face life in prison

Government prosecutors have filed their objection to Andrew Fahie's pre-sentencing report, saying the former British Virgin Islands premier was a central figure He was convicted of drug trafficking and money laundering, not as an accomplice, as he continues to claim. Prosecutors named several British Virgin Islands officials – who were not charged with aiding and abetting – as having participated in the operation.

Prosecutors say the court should include a four-level aggravating role enhancement when considering Fahie’s sentence, calling him “an organizer or leader of criminal activity involving five or more participants.” They say Fahie exercised his decision-making authority in the scheme by first approving the drug trafficking proposal and then ordering convicted co-conspirator Oleanvine Maynard and former British Virgin Islands Port Authority vice chairwoman Roxane Sylvester to travel to Miami to collect an alleged $500,000 payment he was expecting.

Prosecutors say the trip was ordered over Maynard’s objections. According to text messages between the two, she was reluctant to leave because there would be no one left in Tortola to sign the documents. “Here again, the defendant exercised his authority and ordered Oleanvine Maynard’s international travel to Miami, Florida, as part of the cocaine importation scheme,” government prosecutors say.

Indeed, it was Fahie who orchestrated the first meeting with the DEA source, prosecutors say. At that meeting, he accepted a $20,000 bribe to “seal the deal,” according to the document filed June 28. Additionally, by ordering Maynard and Sylvester to leave a meeting with the DEA source shortly before his arrest, Fahie established himself as the leader of the drug trafficking ring.

Prosecutors also named former British Virgin Islands Customs Department chief Wade Smith as being involved in Fahie’s conspiracy. During a meeting between the former prime minister and the DEA source, the two men discussed how to “handle” customs officials, with Fahie promising to get Smith’s cooperation. The next morning, prosecutors say Fahie and Smith spoke for about 10 minutes.

Another argument in favor of putting Fahie at the helm of the conspiracy to import cocaine into the territorial waters of the British Virgin Islands is that the deal was structured in such a way that the former prime minister received the lion’s share of the proceeds. Twelve percent—about $7 million after deducting the cost of bribes—of the sale of each shipment was supposed to go to Fahie, while Mrs. Maynard was to receive 5 percent and her son Kadeem Maynard was to receive no share at all. If the plan went as Fahie had planned, with shipments twice a month for four months, he stood to make about $56 million by allowing the waters of the British Virgin Islands to be used as a safe harbor for the transport of cocaine from Colombia to Puerto Rico and then on to Miami and New York.

An additional accomplice, named only as “Tattoo” in court documents, allegedly served as Fahie's liaison to collect his payments at sea.

Fahie's willingness to bribe officials and abuse his authority as prime minister to bend the territory's bureaucracy to his will “further undermined public confidence in the government of the British Virgin Islands,” prosecutors say.

In addition to the three individuals convicted of drug trafficking, prosecutors identified four others as unindicted co-conspirators: Sylvestor, Smith, an unnamed “agent” of Kadeem Maynard at the British Virgin Islands airport, and a Senegalese contact of Fahie named Baye Cisse. Cisse was allegedly promised a cash payment of $133,000 after encouraging Fahie to participate in the operation when he asked, while the agent allegedly provided Maynard with a list of documents that would be needed for the DEA source’s plane to land in the British Virgin Islands.

Prosecutors are requesting that the 4-level increase be added to the 2-level increase for breach of trust already included in the pre-sentencing report. The 2-level reduction for a clean criminal record should be removed, however, because the aggravating role adjustment makes Fahie ineligible for this reduction.

If the court agrees with prosecutors' assessment of Fahie's central role in the conspiracy, it will calculate a total offense level of 43, which under federal sentencing guidelines makes Fahie eligible for a life sentence. However, the sentencing judge is not required to impose a sentence that falls within the guidelines range.

After several adjournments, Fahie's sentencing is scheduled to take place on August 5.