Bermudian imprisoned in the US on heroin plot

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A Bermudian has been jailed for two-and-a-half years for his role in a $3.9 million heroin importation plot.

Kyle John was the second man from the Island jailed over the plot by a New York court construction boss Rudolph Travers Clarke was locked up for more than seven years in June.

Clarke, 41, of Southampton and John, 53, of Hamilton Parish, were arrested at John F Kennedy Airport, New York, in January 2011 as they tried to make their way from St Maarten to Bermuda.

According to court documents, customs officers stopped John and searched his bags, and discovered a false bottom in his suitcase. They found the heroin, which weighed 1.2 kilograms, when they opened it up. That amount of the drug has a street value of approximately $3,952,000 if sold in individual “decks” on the streets of Bermuda.

John, a married father, told a Homeland Security official after his arrest that Clarke gave him the bag of drugs. He said he agreed to carry it in return for a payment of $10,000 at the end of the trip. He admitted he helped smuggle drugs and money on two previous occasions before he was caught.

The men were charged at the United States Eastern District Court of New York and pleaded guilty during subsequent hearings. During his plea hearing, John told a judge he received treatment for cocaine abuse during 2010.

He also stated: “I knew I was carrying drugs but I didn’t know what type of drugs.”

In submissions before the sentencing hearing on July 24, Assistant District Attorney Darren LaVerne told Judge Frederic Block that John pleaded guilty in March, pursuant to a plea agreement, to one count of conspiracy to import heroin.

“The offence arises from the defendant’s participation in a conspiracy to import more than one kilogram of heroin into the United States during the period November 2010 to January 2011,” he said.

“The defendant twice agreed to help his co-defendant Rudolph Clarke smuggle narcotics from St Maarten to Bermuda by way of New York, and succeeded in doing so in December 2010 in return for $10,000.

“Moreover, after the government confronted the defendant with the fact that he had made a third trip to St Maarten in 2008, the defendant acknowledged that he had, on that occasion, been paid to smuggle money out of Bermuda.

“During meetings with the government, the defendant advised that he had been recruited to smuggle money to St Maarten by the same individual who had introduced him to Clarke.”

Mr LaVerne added: “The government submits that the defendant’s conduct is not an isolated instance of poor judgment, but rather is part of a pattern of criminal activity and reflects a willingness to flout the law for personal gain.”

The judge sentenced John after taking into consideration two letters from members of his family; his aunt Gladys Romney and his sister Kim John-Banks.

Ms John-Banks, of Cheverly, Maryland, said: “I know that he has regretted the choice he made to become involved in such an activity.”

She said her brother used to be an altar boy at church and they had been brought up by their mother to be “well-rounded individuals”. She recalled how he used to cook, clean and complete household chores.

“Now that he is a husband and a father, all of those traits have only been exemplified and make him a very important asset to his family,” she said.

“His wife could not ask for a better man that can do it all. His daughters miss him dearly and need him now more than ever as they reach their teenage years.”

She explained that Mr John’s mother has been in poor health.

“If Kyle is to remain incarcerated for an extended period of time, this will place a heavy burden on his family and be devastating to his wife and children,” she wrote.

Ms Romney, of Bayside, New York, said she had always known John as “a kind and caring person” and was surprised to hear he was in trouble with the law.

“I am sure a valuable lesson was learned about what can, and will happen when a serious mistake is made,” she wrote.

According to the US Bureau of Prisons website, John is being kept at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. He will be deported after his sentence.

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