SENTENCING DATE OF FORMER BVI PREMIER ANDREW FAHIE'S COOPERATING CO-DEFENDANT KADEEM MAYNARD MOVED YET AGAIN

In a new development spotted immediately by alert legal observers of South Florida money laundering cases, the sentencing date of KADEEM MAYNARD, also known as "BLACKA," has been moved once again, for the third time, to November 20, 2023. Maynard is expected to testify at trial against the primary defendant in the money laundering, narcotics case RICO case against disgraced former British Virgin Islands premier ANDREW FAHIE, who faces a probable life sentence on serious multiple counts. Fahie is the only surviving defendant who is going to trial, which is presently scheduled for January 8, 2024.

Court watchers are reportedly puzzled by this repeated resetting of the sentencing date for a defendant who has previously changed his plea to guilty, and who sentencing was previously rescheduled for a date (January 18) after Fahie's trial, obviously since he wants to get credit for his cooperative testimony, but in many such cases, he stands to significantly gain from the changed circumstances. Maynard will receive some credit for his cooperation at sentencing, most likely through USSG 51.1 for Downward Departure, and his defense counsel is most likely anticipating that his sentence will be further reduced by a Government motion, under Rule 35(B), to reduce his sentence after he testifies at trial. In fact, there may be an agreement between his attorney and the Assistant US Attorney handling the case to do just that. That is the best case scenario, and may explain the change in dates.

Fahie's situation, and his chances of securing an acquittal from a jury at trial, continue to deteriorate, in our humble opinion, and we wonder why he has chosen to put the Government through the time and cost of a trial, where the outcome appears to be certain, given the volume of evidence and cooperating witnesses. It has often been thought that the real targets here are other, even more prominent Caribbean government leaders, and that Fahie alone can implicate them. Unfortunately, he stubbornly declines to cooperate, and this decision will most likely be extremely costly in the long run. He does have the right to force the Government to prove its case, but he may rue the day he chose to do that.