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Attorney Andrew Bennett was back in Magistrate’s Court today continuing his fight to resist an extradition request that the US Government has made against him. 

US authorities made that request to the Government of Belize back in 2017. They want him to stand trial for 7 counts of money laundering because they claim to have evidence, that he met with an undercover agent of theirs, and allegedly negotiated the laundering of money for a fictitious drug cartel.  They claim he took payment from them in a backpack, which reportedly contained a quarter of a million dollars in cash.

Since the request was made, the Attorney General’s Ministry has had a few changes in the attorneys leading the extradition proceedings against Bennett at the Magistrate’s Court. At this time, Assistant Solicitor General Samantha Matute-Tucker and DPP Cheryl-Lynn Vidal are the officials acting as prosecutors. 

They and Bennett’s attorney, Anthony Sylvestre, were back before Chief Magistrate Sharon Frazer to continue addressing a technicality that Sylvestre raised at the last adjournment.

Sylvestre pointed out that in the extradition bundle of documents, the official certification from the Belize Ambassador to the United States was missing. The defense says this document is important because it legitimizes the extradition bundle of evidence.

Seems to be a small technical matter, but the two sides argued at great length this morning before Chief Magistrate Frazer as to why this oversight is or isn’t that big of a deal. At the end of the hearing, the Chief Magistrate decided that she would allow the Government to present this certificate, since they were able to procure it. That’s a minor setback in the case for the defense, and when hearing concluded, we asked Anthony Sylvestre about the outcome. Here’s what he had to say:

Anthony Sylvestre - Attorney for Andrew Bennett
"So, we returned to court this morning to have the issue which, on the last occasion, the defense had brought to the attention of the court. [It’s] that one of the central documents which ought to have been in the extradition bundle, which is in possession of the court, was not in the bundle. And so, since that time, Government of United States, the legal representative has been bolstered. And so now, we have the Director of Public Prosecution who has carriage of the matter. And so, we were in court this morning, and we were discussing and making submissions on that issue. The learned Chief Magistrate concluded that that well in the interest of justice, she would allow the Government to have that document which was omitted, for it to find its way in the court’s possession, whether it be by way of having a witness being brought or, I’m not quite sure what may be procedure that will employed here-after by Government. But, suffice it to say, that is where we are, and next Tuesday, we will continue and see how the Government intends to have that document be admitted into evidence, or be tendered into evidence."

Reporter
"Did you try to object to the Magistrate coming conclusion, sir?"

Anthony Sylvestre
"Well of course, you were in court, and so, we did make strenuous submissions as it relates to why we believe that that ought not to be. But, at the end of the day, the learned Chief Magistrate has made her decision, and so, we move on to next week Tuesday, and to see how matters proceed from there."

The case continues on June 4th, and we’ll tell you about it on that next adjourned date.