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HomeNewsArchives10 DRUG-STING DEFENDANTS PLEAD NOT GUILTY

10 DRUG-STING DEFENDANTS PLEAD NOT GUILTY

Nine men accused of street drug dealing in the vicinity of local schools and another facing unrelated drug dealing charges all pleaded not guilty Wednesday in District Court to charges stemming from a recent federal undercover operation.
U.S. Magistrate Geoffrey Barnard accepted the pleas entered by a battery of defense attorneys and set trial dates for late August and early September for Mariano Amaro, Myron Callwood, Gregory Gonzalez, Travis Greenaway, George Penn, Ashana Powell, Michael Powell, Leon Stridiron, Albert Subin and Liston Todman.
Greenaway, Penn, the Powells, Stridiron and Todman have been free on bond since their arrests between June 30 and July 2. Amaro, Callwood, Gonzalez and Subin, who have remained behind bars, were led into the St. Thomas courtroom in tan prison uniforms and leg irons for Wednesday's proceedings.
Attorney Alan Smith, representing Amaro, arranged a $25,000 property bond, and his client was freed shortly after the arraignment.
Barnard said he would agree to a request from Gonzalez for travel leave to attend a family wedding off island with the provisions that he be accompanied by a responsible family member and that he check in with the local probation office for the duration of his stay.
All 10 defendants face federal charges of conspiracy to possess cocaine and/or crack cocaine with intent to distribute and related counts. All but Greenaway face the additional charge of possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school – a charge authorities have said will, upon conviction, bring a mandatory jail term even for first offenders. The schools cited were Ivanna Eudora Kean High School on St. Thomas and Julius E. Sprauve School on St. John.
Another defendant in the schools-related cases, Monroe Forbes, did not appear at the hearing. His attorney, George Hodge, said he had not received notice of the hearing in time to arrange for his client to be present. Barnard rescheduled Forbes's hearing for July 26.

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