FEDERAL PROSECUTORS' DEMANDED A LIFE SENTENCE FOR BVI PREMIER ANDREW ANDREW FAHIE; DOES IT CONFIRM A NEW ZERO TOLERANCE ATTITUDE TOWARDS CARIBBEAN CORRUPTION?

The position of the American Federal criminal justice system towards Caribbean government officials who engage in corruption appears to have hardened, if we take a close look at the recent sentencing of former British Virgin Islands Premier ANDREW FAHIE, convicted in a sting operation that saw him found guilty by a jury of money laundering and facilitating cocaine trafficking. While Fahie received a sentence of 135 months in Federal Prison, the court file reveals that the US Department of Justice sought a far more serious sentence; Life in Prison without the possibility of Parole.

After the United States Probation Office (USPO) filed its Presentence Investigation Report, the   GOVERNMENT’S OBJECTIONS TO THE PRESENTENCE INVESTIGATION REPORT AND RESPONSE TO DEFENDANT’S OBJECTIONS TO THE PSI, a detailed thirteen page reply was filed. The Objections included a multiple Level Enhancement, asserting that Fahie was a Leader/Organizer, according to the US Sentencing Guidelines, and concluded for a number of additional factors, that the defendant's Offense Level therefore should be 43, the highest possible score on the Sentencing Table. 

To quote the Objection: "The draft PSI correctly identifies §§ 2D1.1(a)(5), (c)(1) as the proper sections for calculating the defendant’s base offense level. Paragraph 23 of the draft PSI correctly identifies a base offense level of 38 based on the offense involving more than 450 kilograms of cocaine. As discussed in Part I(C) above, the defendant should also be assessed a 4-level aggravating role increase, a 2-level abuse of trust increase, and the 2-level zero-point offender reduction should be removed, resulting in a total offense level of 43." That results in a Sentence of Life Imprisonment.

For the benefit of readers not familiar with the Sentence Reform Act of 1986, Parole has been effectively abolished in Federal sentencing, and there is no statutory Gain Time for Life Sentences, with the result that Federal defendants sentenced to Life will die in prison. The fact that the Department of Justice sought a Life Sentence for Andrew Fahie, although no cocaine actually changed hands, and all the money involved was produced by US law enforcement is a clear indication that the rampant and systemic corruption that pervades the conduct of many Caribbean government officials, at the highest level, has captured the attention of the DOJ. 

Defendant Fahie has filed a Notice of Appeal of both the Conviction and the Sentence to the Eleventh Circuit, and an appellate attorney has been duly appointed to represent him, so in theory the story is not yet over, although appellate courts are generally loathe to overturn jury verdicts. On a broader note though, is the case is sign of the shape of things to come, in any future sentencing of East Caribbean government officials for Corruption in American courts? We believe it definitely is; perhaps deterrence, as the Lodestar for sentencing, has been finally recognized as ineffective when its comes to corrupt foreign leaders who believe themselves to be omnipotent due to national sovereignty Whatever the reason, expect stiff sentences down the road for chronic corrupters.