Nearly 20 years ago, two men were convicted guilty of smuggling cocaine in diplomatic pouches.
A Port of Spain jury recently convicted Micah Smith and Kurt Alexis guilty.
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Alexis was found guilty on one count of possessing cocaine with intent to distribute, while Smith was found guilty of two counts of trafficking cocaine.
They were exonerated on a count of conspiring to distribute cocaine at the beginning of their trial because the prosecution had no proof. The accusation of conspiring to distribute cocaine was also dropped against the third man in question.
Until their November 9 sentence, Smith and Alexis were held in jail.
Smith was accused of trafficking cocaine on May 5 and 6, 2004, according to the prosecution. He mailed multiple envelopes to the Toronto High Commission and the New York consulate between March 2004 and May 2004 while purportedly working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition, between December 2003 and March 2004, he mailed seven envelopes to a person at the London High Commission.
He mailed a package containing a phone book to the New York consulate on May 3, 2004, which was used as evidence for the allegations. A phone book with cocaine in its hollowed-out center was inside the package.
He shipped a package containing cocaine to Toronto on May 5, 2004.
The ministry employee Alexis was accused of sending a package containing cocaine to London on January 9, 2004, according to the evidence against him.
Smith has previously requested that his case be tried separately and that his indictment be dismissed.
However, Justice Gail Gonzales, who presided over the trial and the application to sever, stated that she did not think he would be unreasonably disadvantaged if his case were tried alongside his co-accused.
Delicia Helwig-Robertson and Ayanna Norville, both public defenders, defended Smith. Colin Selvon, an attorney, was Alexis’s advocate. Maria Lyons-Edwards, an attorney for the State, acted as its representative.
