International cross-country runner Jamal K. Hart was accused of lying about not knowing a freezer contained 10,953 grams of cannabis.

Hart, 37, of East Dale Lane, Southampton, has pleaded not guilty to importing cannabis with an estimated street value of $547,650 into Bermuda in a freezer on or about July 13, 2003.

In Supreme Court yesterday, Hart told a seven-woman, four-man jury that he ?never at any stage knowingly imported any drugs?.

Crown counsel Graveney Bannister said what Hart said in court was not true. Hart replied that was ?totally incorrect?.

On Tuesday Hart testified he was asked to import the freezer for an old friend called Mikey, to be delivered to ?Roger Smith?.

Mr. Hart also testified that he did not order a freezer.

Yesterday, Mr. Bannister asked why he never found out Mikey?s full name and address or had any contact numbers for him.

?I had known Mikey a long time,? Hart said. ?There was no need to worry because he was a close friend of my brother?s. If you are a friend of my brother you are a friend of mine.?

Mr. Bannister suggested because he knew there were drugs in the freezer, he tried to distance himself from it with a ?bogus name?.

However, Hart said the name ?could not be that bogus?.

The prosecutor also asked him whether he expected the court to believe ?that Mikey story?.

?I can?t tell you what to believe or not,? Hart replied. ?I know what the deal is.?

Hart said he was not ?desperate? to get the freezer off the docks. When asked why the freezer was not delivered directly to the home of ?Mr. Smith? Hart said: ?The only thing I had to do was facilitate getting it from the dock to Best Shipping. They were supposed to pick it up from Best Shipping.?

Defence lawyer Victoria Pearman?s witness, Theresa Martin, said she met Hart at John F. Kennedy International Airport on July 4, 2003, with her ex-husband Mikey Campbell.

She let Hart stay in her son?s hotel room for $100 because he was in a dilemma ? he was supposed to meet someone who did not show up and was ?upset at the situation?.

Ms Martin also said her ex-husband was originally from Kingston, Jamaica, and had lived in Bermuda from 1977, although had since moved off-Island.

The trial continues today before Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves.