A Guyanese man who was found guilty of a plot to smuggle drugs into Bermuda was sentenced to 18 years behind bars yesterday.

Alexta Gill, 31, was convicted by a unanimous verdict this year of importing $676,736 of cannabis and liquid cocaine from Canada to Bermuda on March 4, 2023.

While Gill told police that he had agreed to smuggle the drugs into the country to clear a debt, he claimed during the trial that the admission was a lie he had invented based on advice he received from a lawyer.

After he was found guilty, he admitted the offence and apologised for wasting the court’s time.

Puisne Judge Juan Wolffe said the scourge of drugs had torn the social fabric of the community apart and devastated families across the island.

He said: “Any sentence meted out by this court must send a clear message to Bermudians and foreigners alike that if you import into these islands serious drugs such as cannabis and cocaine then an immediate custodial sentence will be delivered.”

Mr Justice Wolffe sentenced Gill to 18 years behind bars for the cocaine importation and 12 years for cannabis importation and ordered the sentences to run concurrently.

He said written reasons for the sentencing decision would be handed down in the next six weeks.

During his trial, the jury heard that Gill, who lived in Canada, flew to the island with Jhordan George-Horsford on a WestJet flight from Toronto on March 2, 2023.

However, one of their suitcases missed the flight and only arrived in Bermuda on an Air Canada flight two days later.

A search of the suitcase when it arrived on the island revealed six “bricks” of plant material later confirmed to be 9,472.6 grams of cannabis, and a bottle of whiskey, which was found to contain liquid cocaine, from which 812.4g of the controlled drug was extracted.

Both Gill and Ms George-Horsford were arrested and, during a personal search, officers found cannabis and a grinder in his possession.

During an initial police interview, Gill denied any knowledge of the drugs found in the suitcase.

In a second video, he claimed he had agreed to bring a suitcase to the island for someone named “Andre” to clear an $8,000 debt after receiving death threats.

However, Gill told the Supreme Court that he had come to the island to celebrate Ms George-Horsford’s birthday and had no idea how the drugs came to be in his suitcase.

He claimed that he had made up the story about “Andre” in an effort to get bail after receiving advice from Bruce Swan, who was serving as duty council during his police interviews.

Khadija Beddeau, for the Crown, said that Gill’s story was “a heap of nonsense” highlighting contradictions in the story he told police during his first interview and what he told the court.

The jury found him guilty by a unanimous verdict after two hours of deliberation.

Gill subsequently admitted in a pre-sentencing report that he knowingly agreed to smuggle drugs after suffering financial hardship in Canada and apologised to his family, the court and the island.

However, during a hearing in October, Mr Justice Wolffe noted that Gill did not offer any apology to Mr Swan or the police officers he had maligned during his trial.

Mr Justice Wolffe said: “One’s reputation is the tool of their trade. A lawyer gets work based on their reputation or does not get work based on their reputation.”

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