A tension-fuelled silence filled Supreme Court yesterday as the jury returned two guilty verdicts in the drugs conspiracy trial of well known powerboat racer Kirk Roberts and Vincentian Alphonso Holder.

After nearly 14 days of dramatic testimony - with three co-conspirators testifying against Roberts after receiving immunity deals - the jury came back with a unanimous decision on charges against the 40-year-old Sandys resident.

Holder, alternatively, was found guilty by a majority of ten to two jurors following nearly two-and-a-half hours of deliberations.

Both men were convicted of conspiring, with others not before the court, to import hundreds of pounds of cannabis to Bermuda between a date unknown and December 2000.

Neither man visibly reacted to the reading of the verdict - which carries a maximum punishment of ten years in prison - within the courtroom which was primarily filled with Police officers and attorneys from the Director of Public Prosecutions office.

When asked about sentencing by Supreme Court Justice Norma Wade-Miller, Prosecutor Shade Subair said the Crown intended to move forward with a confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act and asked that sentencing be adjourned until the conclusion of that application.

Ms Subair said the Crown wanted information on Roberts' assets, including those held in trust, and would be looking at the purchase or sale of any land, property, vehicles, motorcraft or engines held by Roberts.

While Ms Justice Wade-Miller said she would like to sentence the two men together, Holder's defence attorney Patrick Doherty suggested sentencing of his client be swift.

"Mr. Holder has been in custody awaiting trial 19 months," he said of the 44-year-old St. Vincent man. "He's been on remand under 23 hour a day lockdown. He would like to be sentenced at the earliest possible time."

A date of July 19 was set for sentencing.

After the verdict, Robert's defence lawyer Mark Pettingill told The Royal Gazette he expected to be filing an appeal by the end of the week.

"I'm not surprised," he said. "There are certainly grounds for appeal, particularly with regard to the conduct of the Crown."

Over the course of the trial, Mr. Pettingill and Mr. Doherty repeatedly raised concerns that all materials relevant to the defence were not being disclosed.

The defence argued that the Police investigation was engineered to get Kirk Roberts and felt the Crown's star witness - German sailor Heinz (Henry) Golembeck - may have been some form of Police operative.

Golembeck's testimony formed the heart of the prosecution's case. The ex-drug-runner-turned-informant told the court he made a deal with Roberts in early 2000 to bring marijuana to Bermuda.

Golembeck said he sailed the Caribbean for several months in search of drugs before eventually making a purchase in St. Vincent.

Holder was linked to the conspiracy as an agent of the St. Vincent connection - Benji the Roots Man - who, according to Golembeck, asked that he be taken on the sailboat to Bermuda to protect the drugs.

It is not the first time defence attorneys have suggested Bermuda Police were out to get Roberts.

In 1997, when his parents Barbara and William Roberts were convicted of possession, handling and possession with intent to supply 30 pounds of cocaine, lawyer Richard Hector asked Police whether they had a "vendetta" against the Roberts' son Kirk.

Later, he would suggest "there was a third person involved in this whole thing not before you and he has left his parents to face the music".

However, Kirk Roberts was never charged with any crime in relation to the cocaine found in the refrigerator of the family's West Side Road home.

The Roberts were each sentenced to 12 years that 1997 and their conviction was upheld on appeal.

In 1998, Roberts was charged with possession with intent to supply more than two kilograms of cannabis - allegedly found in a refrigerator at the home of a friend - but those charges were dropped the next year due to lack of evidence following a preliminary inquiry.