Three Bermudian men accused of drug possession and trafficking in Georgia will not face trial.

Jermaine Raheim Lewis Simmons, 27, was arrested in September with Jie Jovonne Stovell, 26, and Kavon Chancey Hart, 21, in Trenton, Georgia, 99 miles from Atlanta.

They were charged with possessing cocaine, possessing cocaine with intent to distribute and trafficking cocaine. Stovell was also arrested for an obscured or missing licence plate. The cocaine was said to be 200 grammes or more.

Assistant District Attorney Len Gregor yesterday said Simmons pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and was given ten years probation and time served which was eight months.

Stovell's case is currently dead docketed, he added, while Kavon Hart has left the US.

A "dead docketed" case has been pulled from the active calendar, in which prosecutors "recognise there's something going on" with the case.

Mr. Gregor continued: "We made the decision to dead docket the case because we didn't feel like we could go forward. A lot of the problems are directed to the fact that Kavon Hart is supposedly back in Bermuda. Jermaine Simmons, he was our one defendant who entered a plea of guilty and received a probated sentence from our courts here and his whereabouts after that, I'm not sure.

"There should be some control of him due to the fact that he's on probation but I'm not sure."

As far as Hart, Mr. Gregor said he left the US and forfeited his bond. "After a couple of failed appearances, there was a bond for him, $10,000, and what we did instead of trying to go after Kavon on the bench warrant itself, which would have involved the use of two federal Marshalls.

"We would have had to pay for their flights to Bermuda, their stay and flights back if they were able to find him. We forfeited the bond.

"There was a settlement between the county and the bond company paid $10,000 to the county because they couldn't vouch for him. If he returns to the US, my understanding is that he was allowed to return for the purposes of hearings or court on these charges but he's not allowed for any other reason. We don't expect we will see him again."

Hart and Simmons were believed to be living in the Atlanta area, while Stovell graduated from Alabama A&M last May.