More charges to be filed against Roger Khan
-US govt tells Judge says how businessman taken to NY irrelevant to bail hearing
Stabroek News
December 7, 2006
New York Judge, Dora Lizette Irizarry yesterday said that it was completely irrelevant for the attorneys of drug-indicted businessman Roger Khan to make an issue about the manner in which he was taken to the US and the US government signalled that additional charges will be filed against Khan.
According to reports from New York, Justice Irizarry also noted that she was prepared to go ahead with the case and as such ruled against a request the defence had earlier made calling for three US officials to be subpoenaed for the bail hearing.
The US Government also announced yesterday at the continuation of Khan's court hearing that it will file a superseding indictment in the coming days with additional charges against the Guyanese. Khan and three of his bodyguards were held in Suriname during a huge drug bust. Khan was then deported to Guyana via Trinidad and Tobago, but was arrested in Port of Spain by officials of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and flown to New York via Miami. His attorneys had deemed his arrest as a kidnapping, but the US had argued that it was proper. Robert Simels and John Bergendahl, the businessman's US attorneys had informed the court back in October that they were going to make a bail application for Khan and at the same time they had asked the court to subpoena a DEA official from Trinidad, a US embassy official based in Georgetown and another DEA official in the US to be cross-examined about the manner in which Khan was taken to the US.
Yesterday Justice Irizarry told the lawyers that it was an irrelevancy noting that it had nothing to do with whether Khan should be given bail or not. At this point the defence insisted that the officials must be brought to court and the Judge maintained her position and urged the defence to proceed with their bail hearing. Following further arguments, one of Khan's lawyers told the judge that they were not ready to start the hearing and asked for another week to do so.
Bergendahl further requested that the defence be allowed to call Khan's brother to testify in the bail hearing. The judge again asked about the relevance of this.
January 4 was set as the new date for the bail hearing during which time the state is expected to file the other charges.
On whether bail would be granted to Khan, Assistant US State Attorney, Paige Petersen, told the court that the US government had to go through extreme measures to arrest the Guyanese and he is considered a flight risk. Petersen further noted that Khan was already a fugitive from US law before he was recently caught. She argued that given this situation and the fact that Khan's relatives have the resources to get him out of the country he should not be granted bail. Petersen also stated that they have made further disclosures of evidence in the case and added that a request was pending for the items seized in the drug bust in Suriname to be sent to the US. She also noted that they have items connected to Khan which were seized in Guyana.
Khan was indicted by the US in April this year on a charge of conspiracy to import cocaine into that country. The US in submitting some of its evidence in the case offered a plea deal to Khan. If convicted Khan can face a maximum of life imprisonment, but through plea bargain arrangements his sentence could be reduced.
He had dodged local law enforcement officers after his properties were searched during a massive campaign to recover the stolen army AK-47 rifles. He fled Guyana along with three of his bodyguards: Sean Belfield, Paul Rodrigues and Lloyd Roberts to Suriname and they were hiding out there until Suriname police arrested them and five others in a huge drug bust which netted 213 kilos of cocaine in Paramaribo on June 15.
Khan and his bodyguards were freed of charges stemming from the drug bust.
The US government disclosed recently that it intended to call an expert to testify about the cocaine seized in the case it has built against Khan and exhibits taken from one of the businessman's properties here will also be tendered. The expert will also testify regarding drug smuggling methods and practices and drug importation organizations. According to court documents seen by this newspaper the expert will come from the DEA and will testify regarding the weight and purity of the amount of narcotics seized in the case.