Co-pilot, in jail more than 1,550 days, fights extradition
(CNS): A man who arrived in the Cayman Islands as the co-pilot of a private jet more than four years ago has been in jail since then, despite being found not guilty of gold smuggling here in 2020, as he fights extradition to the United States. Juan Carlos Gonzales Infante (60), a Venezuelan national who is wanted by the US authorities on drug smuggling and money laundering charges, appeared in court Friday, but his case was adjourned until September because of scheduling problems for his legal team.
Gonzales has been in jail in the Cayman Islands since April 2019, when he was remanded in custody with four other men for allegedly smuggling gold suspected to be the proceeds of crime. However, he confirmed on Friday that he wanted to be represented by the same attorney who has handled his case since the beginning and was prepared to remain on remand in the meantime.
Gonzales, along with his fellow travellers, were all acquitted after a jury trial, but the Americans want him in connection with cocaine smuggling offences, and the activation of the extradition warrant by the US left him in jail while his co-defendants all left the jurisdiction.
The US authorities have accused him of narcotrafficking in 2011, conspiring with a multinational criminal network in a sophisticated, dangerous operation worth millions of dollars that could smuggle 100 kilos of cocaine into Fort Lauderdale undetected.
Gonzales is believed to have been the mastermind behind the operation, sourcing drugs from South and Central America and brokering deals to smuggle and sell cocaine. In 2019, he was reportedly aware that the US authorities were on to him, and he was on the run when he flew into Grand Cayman.
On Friday, Toyin Salako from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said the crown was very concerned about how long Gonzales has been in jail on remand awaiting an appeal in relation to the extradition.
However, Gonzales wants to retain his current counsel to fight his removal on the grounds of mistaken identity, the passage of time, a potential lifetime prison term that would violate his human rights, as well as the prison conditions he would face if returned to the US.
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- Afraid
Adios ASAP
I don’t blame him to insist on the lawyer of his choice considering the alternative.
So who is causing the delay? The article implies his own attorney.
In the meantime the Government houses, feeds him, and looks after his healthcare on public funds.
They should use some of the gold to pay for his expenses just like the early pirate days in the Caribbean.
On the other hand, he did bring in a good amount of gold. He just needs to turn that into cash and, you know, spend it at a restaurant someplace. Surely the restaurant has bills to pay in the US and other places that cash might need to go.
NCA seized it as the UK courts rightly decided it was criminal proceeds – unlike the dumb jurors in Cayman!!
👍👍👍👍 what a bunch of knuckle heads we have..
Jury trials in Cayman are a joke! Thanks to juries criminals are still free to continue their crimes and innocent people are incarcerated.
What’s the big deal, he needs to put on his big boy pants and head back to the good old USA since it’s a case of mistaken identity and presumed innocent… let his jury of peers decide.
When you remember that our jury pools are made up of the same people who vote, a lot makes sense.
Cayman should lick the stamp and send this narco recidivist to the DEA without delay. Adios caballero.