Gavin Waaldijk, the Guyanese convicted of taking over 30 kilogrammes of cocaine into the US in a suitcase, was on Monday sentenced to three and a half years in prison by a New York judge.
Waaldijk pleaded guilty since last year and had expressed remorse alleging, among other things, that he was coerced into smuggling the illegal drug. He had written the court begging for mercy and his lawyers also wrote the court.
In response to letters from him and his lawyers, the prosecution late last month pointed out that the drugs were being smuggled for a family organisation for which he had at one time provided some money.
Waaldijk was seeking a sentence below what is normally given for his offence based upon claims that his actions were both aberrational and the product of coercion. He had also sought consideration by the court based upon the fact that he faces deportation following his sentence.
However, the prosecution in its letter to the court said that none of the articulated grounds had warranted the requested relief. It was also stated that they could not support the defendant’s application since the government has had discussions with Waaldijk twice and is not satisfied “that the defendant has truthfully provided to the government all the information and evidence the defendant has concerning the offence or offences that were part of the same course of conduct or of a common scheme or plan.”
According to the letter, seen by this newspaper, when the defendant was held last year he explained that he had been recruited by a family member to import the drugs and had agreed upon request to place a recorded telephone conversation to the family member.
Viola Weekes, a relative, was murdered in Suriname shortly after Waaldijk was held and he has since claimed that she was killed because of his case.
The government said Waaldijk further revealed that he had previously loaned a relative US$1500 in 2006 to finance a drug smuggling operation to England and that he had been propositioned before to import drugs into the US but declined until a relative “demanded that he make the courier trip.” The demand was made in the US and he returned to Guyana where he received the bag containing the cocaine.
“At this point during his proffer, the defendant then lied and began to recite a story about being summoned back to his hotel with his cousin by his aunt, where he was accused of being an informant and pistol-whipped by two individuals,” the government’s letter had said.
The letter had also stated that this version of the alleged event was slightly different as told by the defendant during another discussion where he stated that the said incident occurred on the street.
“Of most significance, however, is that during this proffer session, the defendant admitted that his statements about the alleged assault were not accurate and he retracted his statements. The defendant subsequently advised the Probation Department… that he was assaulted on his way to the airport after receiving the bag of cocaine.”
He stated that on his way to the airport he became nervous about taking the trip and was assaulted until he relented.
It was pointed out that the defendant had said he was assaulted to ensure that he took the cocaine to the US, even though he readily admitted that his family routinely found drug couriers to smuggle their narcotics and had no problem finding them. However, he maintained that he was an unwilling courier and had only brought drugs to the country on this one occasion.
The Probation Department had recommended that the defendant receive a two-level reduction for the safety valve but the prosecution did not agree. The letter further said that while the defendant had provided a detailed post-arrest statement and had satisfied his obligations and attended two proffer sessions the government remained unconvinced that he has satisfied his obligations under the safety-valve.
“Admittedly, the government has no evidence with which to contradict the defendant’s statements. However, there is an inherent incredulity to his story that cannot be easily dismissed.”
It was the view of the government that the defendant attempted to minimize his involvement in the instant offence and portray himself as an unwilling victim who has only imported cocaine on this one occasion.
“We believe the truth lies elsewhere. For this reason, the government cannot support the Probation Department’s recommendation that the defendant receive the benefit of the safety-valve.”
The government had also said that the defendant’s claims that his actions were aberrational, that his crime was the product of duress and coercion and that his status as a deportable alien warranted a departure were all without merit.
Aberrant
Behaviour
The government had explained that aberrant behaviour is a single criminal occurrence or a single criminal transaction that is committed without significant planning, is limited in duration and represents a marked deviation by the defendant from an otherwise law-abiding life.
The court could also consider the defendant’s mental and emotional conditions, employment record, record of prior good works, motivation for committing the offence and efforts to mitigate the effects of the offence. How-ever, the government posited that Waaldijk’s case is not extraordinary, but rather presents a set of common facts. It said like many drug or money couriers, the defendant claims to be a first-time offender, but that alone is insufficient to justify a departure based upon aberrant behaviour.
The prosecution pointed out that the smuggling of the cocaine is not the first action the defendant took in furtherance of the drug trafficking organisation as he had previously invested in a load of narcotics that was sent to England. It was stated that the range of imprisonment faced by the defendant under the guidelines is no more severe than the crime for which he has been convicted or the facts and circumstances surrounding them. Further, it was noted that he stands apart from a typical drug courier as he was a trusted family member and had even invested money into the criminal venture.
On August 1 last year the man went to the US on a TravelSpan flight.
On arrival at the JFK Airport in New York, where cargo and passengers are subject to inspection by US Customs officials, a narcotics-detecting dog alerted the authorities to a suitcase bearing his name. Customs and Border Patrol authorities found 31 brick-shaped objects, identified as cocaine, wrapped in plastic, which when weighed amounted to 35.078 kilogrammes.
When the US authorities found Waaldijk he had one piece of carry-on luggage and another suitcase with the corresponding tag.
