As ex-Premier Andrew Fahie and former BVI Ports Authority Managing Director Oleanvine Maynard prepare for their Florida trial in July, their co-accused has decided to change his previous not-guilty plea, according to a May 22 filing in a Miami district court.
In what could signal bad news for Mr. Fahie and Ms. Maynard, a change-of-plea hearing has been scheduled for her son Kadeem Maynard on June 12.
The court filing also notes the cancellation of Mr. Maynard’s July trial — at which he had been scheduled to face charges alongside the other two.
Allegations
The trio are accused of conspiring to smuggle cocaine through Virgin Islands waters into the United States.
They all previously pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to import a controlled substance, conspiracy to engage in money laundering, and attempted money laundering. Mr. Fahie and Ms. Maynard also pleaded not guilty to one count each of “interstate and foreign travel in aid of racketeering” — a charge that was not brought against Mr. Maynard.
The May 22 filing did not state to which of the charges Mr. Maynard plans to plead guilty, but it is possible that a deal with prosecutors could include the condition that he cooperate in the case against his mother and Mr. Fahie.
The allegations
Mr. Fahie and Ms. Maynard were arrested in Miami in April 2022 following a sting operation led by the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
He was arrested first, at the Miami-Opa Loka Executive Airport, after exiting a plane where he inspected bags filled with $700,000 in fake cash that he believed would be paid to him and Ms. Maynard, according to the complaint against him.
“Why am I getting arrested?” he allegedly protested. “I don’t have any money or drugs.”
Ms. Maynard was arrested later the same day after being shown the same fake money aboard the plane, according to the complaint.
Her son, who is accused of arranging meetings between the pair and a US informant, was arrested in the USVI, according to the DEA.
Daughters’ travel request
Mr. Fahie received bad news earlier this month as well.
On May 4, he asked the court to allow his daughters — US residents who surrendered their passports as part of his bail conditions — to travel to the VI for a celebration-of-life service for their recently deceased grandfather, Winston Theodore Herbert.
The court denied the request the next day.
Mr. Fahie’s bail conditions require him to wear an ankle monitor and to live in his daughters’ rented Florida apartment on house arrest until his trial in July.
Mr. Fahie declined to comment though his Florida attorney, Theresa Van Vliet.