Cocaine in doilies accused in talks to plead guilty

The US-based Guyanese man who was nabbed in the US in September with cocaine in an ivory-coloured towel and several knitted doilies, has been released on US$100,000 bail and is in talks with the prosecution for a plea bargain, his lawyer has said.

Nigel Enmore, 22, appeared before Justice Viktor V Pohorelsky after he was arrested while allegedly attempting to import 5,203.3 grammes of cocaine into the US.

His case is now before Judge Brain M. Cogan and according to a letter written to the judge by his lawyer, Mildred Whalen, her client is involved in plea negotiations. But she said should he fail to dispose of the case by pleading guilty they would like the trial to commence on March 23, 2009, being unavailable for any earlier day.

The judge has since granted the request and should Enmore decide to enter a guilty plea the court would be notified and he would plead guilty before a magistrate judge.

Court papers had said that Enmore had arrived at the John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) aboard Delta Airlines flight 384 from Guyana. When customs and border protection officers approached him for a customs examination, he was found in possession of one black carry-on bag and one black suitcase that had been checked during the flight.
When questioned he indicated that both of the bags were his and that he had personally packed them.

The bags were examined and it was found that they contained, among other things, an ivory-coloured towel and several knitted doilies that appeared “unusually stiff and also had a strange odour.” Enmore was then taken to a search room where a sample of the towel and doilies field-tested positive for cocaine and he was then placed under arrest.