Three men were arraigned on Tuesday on drug and weapons charges following their arrests on June 17.

Samuel Cooper, 23, Byron Cooper, 34, both of Cooper’s Town, Abaco, and John Saunders, 26, of McClean’s Town, pleaded not guilty to two counts of possession of an unlicensed firearm, two counts of possession of ammunition and one count of drug possession with intent to supply at their arraignment before Magistrate Samuel McKinney.

Officers from the Drug Enforcement Unit were conducting an operation in McClean’s Town when they allegedly saw three men exit a vessel and get into a white van. The officers pursued the vehicle, and the driver allegedly tossed a bag from the vehicle during the chase.

After the officers caught up with the suspects, they took them back to the area where the bag was thrown and searched it in their presence. The officers allegedly found a 9mm Ruger pistol, serial number 321-65987, four rounds of ammunition, a .45mm pistol with nine rounds of .45mm ammunition along with five bricks of cocaine.

The defendants denied possession of the contraband and were each granted $9,500 bail for the firearms case and $9,500 for the drugs case.

They are expected to go to trial on September 1, 2022.

Carlson Shurland, QC, represented the accused, and Inspector Timothy Bain prosecuted.

FOUR young men were in a Magistrate's Court yesterday faced with various charges, including two counts of armed robbery and possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Kyuavon Strachan, 18, and 19-year-old Shantino Armbrister, represented by lawyer Kara Butler, Phillip Higgs, 21, represented by K Melvin Munroe, and a 17-year-old youth, accompanied by his mother, was represented by Ian Cargill.

They all faced Assistant Chief Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans.

The 17-year-old, along with Armbrister and Strachan, faced two counts of armed robbery.

The 17-year-old and Higgs also faced a drug charge. However, all four were accused of possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.

On June 12 in New Providence, three of the accused are alleged to have robbed two people with a handgun. The suspects are said to have stolen William Brown’s brown wallet containing $143 and Kendy Ferguson’s black Michael Kors bag containing $150.

The gun used in both of these robberies was reportedly a black Glock 9mm pistol S/N number BBBP596 with 13 unfired rounds of 9mm ammunition. It was not licensed.

Later that same day, three of the accused were arrested after they were found with five grams of Indian Hemp.

Officers on mobile patrol pulled over the accused for speeding on Nassau East Street and found the suspected drugs, with a street value of $20, in a clear plastic wrap under the left passenger seat of the vehicle.

In a subsequent police interview, both Armbrister and Higgs admitted to owning the drugs, while the 17-year-old denied all knowledge of the drugs.

However, in court Higgs was the only one to plead guilty to the drug charge with the remaining accused entering a not guilty plea.

As such Higgs’ attorney, Melvin Munroe, as part of his plea in mitigation, pointed out that his client had accepted responsibility for his actions at the earliest opportunity. He said Higgs diligently worked two jobs and implored the court to give him a warning so that his clean record could remain unblemished.

The magistrate cautioned Higgs for making what she called a dumb decision by continuing to take drugs that “lessens your possibilities.”

Magistrate Vogt-Evans summarily imposed a conditional discharge on Higgs where he is expected to attend CCAC drug counseling courses for four months and participate in community service for 150 hours at Great Commission.

Defaulting on these conditions would result in a fine of $250 or three months in prison.

Higgs is expected to return to court for a report on October 20.

The remaining two accused were discharged on the drugs charges.

As for the remaining charges, the accused were informed that these matters would all proceed in the Supreme Court by way of Voluntary Bill of Indictment (VBI).

While three of the accused were informed that they would be returned to the Bahamas Department of Corrections until they were granted bail by the Supreme Court, only Higgs was granted bail that day.

As he was not connected with the armed robbery charges Higgs was granted $7,000 bail with two sureties. A condition of his bail is that he is to be fitted with an ankle monitor and is expected to sign in at Elizabeth Estates Police Station every Sunday by 7pm.

Failure to meet these conditions would result in his bail being revoked and Higgs’ immediate return to the Bahamas Department of Corrections.

All accused are expected to return to court on September 19 for service of their VBIs.

A MAN was sentenced to six months in prison by a Magistrate's Court yesterday for the indecent assault of a woman last year.

Alfred Pierre, 46, faced Assistant Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain on a charge of indecent assault.

At around 12pm on September 22, 2021, Pierre is accused of approaching a woman who was walking south on Nassau Street near St Agnes Cemetery and touching her breast.

Witnesses of the assault came to the victim’s assistance and chased Pierre away. The accused was later arrested and pleaded guilty to the charge in court.

A review of Pierre’s antecedents revealed that he had two previous vagrancy convictions.

When asked by the magistrate why he had assaulted the woman, Pierre said he did it for no reason and just because he could.

With the accused already spending six months on remand in the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services, he asked that the court release him for time served.

Magistrate Swain sentenced him to six months for the charge for which time served on remand will be considered.

LONG Island MP Adrian Gibson was released on bail yesterday 24 hours after he faced corruption charges for allegedly abusing his power as executive chairman of the Water and Sewerage Corporation.

Amid a throng of reporters and gathered onlookers, the sitting MP, along with his six co-defendants were released from the back of Magistrate’s Court after spending the night in custody.

The other six defendants are former WSC General Manager Elwood Donaldson, MP Gibson’s cousin Rashae Gibson, the MP’s campaign manager Joan Knowles, as well as Jerome Missick, Tonya Demeritte and Peaches Farquharson.

While Gibson has a total of 56 charges against him, the seven defendants collectively face 101 charges altogether.

These charges, which range from false declaration, bribery and money laundering, stem from Mr Gibson’s alleged failure to declare his interest in contracts awarded by the WSC to Elite Maintenance and Baha Bay.

Gibson, whose bail was set at $150,000, according to the accusations allegedly gained a financial advantage of just over $1.25m through a series of illicit cheques and wire transfers.

A source close to the matter indicated to The Tribune that the defence’s legal counsel met with Senior Justice Turner to fast track the defendants bail release after they spent the previous night at the BDCS.

Gibson gave no comment to the press during his release.

Service of the accuseds’ VBIs is expected on September 14.