By TRIBUNE REPORTER

A FORMER Royal Bahamas Defence Force officer faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1m fine after pleading guilty on Friday for his part in a plot to traffic cocaine to the US.

Darrin Alexander Roker admitted one count of cocaine importation conspiracy at a court in New York, the first member of the group of 13 men to plead guilty.

Roker told the court he gave information to drug smugglers about the location of law enforcement vessels to ensure they would not be intercepted.

Addressing the court, Roker said that between 2021 and 2023, he was "paralysed" and "bedridden" due to prostate cancer that had spread to his spine.

Shortly after returning to work in November 2024 and beating the cancer, he got involved in the conspiracy.

Roker said: “My participation was that I was supposed to give information to drug conspirators where their (law enforcement) vessels would be so they (the traffickers) would not be intercepted.”

The former chief petty officer is facing up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on January 21st next year over the plot, which caused a scandal among law enforcement in The Bahamas.

Roker, 56, also faces a fine of up to $1m.

The charges stem from a major investigation alleging that traffickers moved tons of cocaine through The Bahamas into the US between 2021 and 2024.

Drug traffickers are said to have worked closely with their pilots and corrupt officials to fly their shipments from Central and South America to the Bahamas for eventual distribution to the US.

Two officers with the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) –– one of whom was a chief superintendent — and one purported Bahamian government official were also charged.

Appearing at the federal court in New York, Roker wore a tan-coloured, prison-issued top and pants. His legs were in shackles, and two US Marshals sat behind him.

During the hour-long hearing, US District Judge Gregory Woods read through a series of questions to ensure Roker was competent.

Roker answered each with a clear: "Yes sir" or "No sir" and the judge confirmed he was capable of understanding.

Judge Woods read Roker his rights that he was giving up by pleading guilty, including the right to a jury trial. Roker confirmed he understood.

The judge also warned Roker that the guideline sentence was 20 years but said it was "not binding on me" and said that "at this point I just don’t know" what the sentence would be.

Roker’s lawyer, Martin Roth, said he had spoken to his client the night before and he "understands everything".

The plea was "clearly in his best interests", Mr Roth said.

Prosecutor Jonathan Bodansky told the court that, had the case gone to trial, the evidence would have included testimony from law enforcement officers and "confidential sources".

The jury would have been shown audio and video recordings of meetings between Roker and the conspirators and "surveillance photos of the targets of the investigation", Mr Bodansky said.

There would also have been evidence from electronic devices.

Mr Bodansky said that Roker accepted $20,000 in November 2024 as an "upfront payment" for providing information to drug traffickers.

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Roth said that Roker had pleaded to a "lesser included offence".

The indictment includes specific amounts of drugs being trafficked, but Roker did not admit to them, Mr Roth said.

“The advantage is that there is no minimum prison sentence with this plea”, Mr Roth said.

“If he hadn’t plead then he would face a minimum prison time. Mr Roker was involved right at the end of the conspiracy, within the last 30 days of it. He was brought into a meeting with another conspirator, he was paid and he was arrested shortly afterwards.

“His participation was very minor and I hope the judge will take that into account at sentencing."

Roker’s conduct was one example of what prosecutors called ‘drug-fuelled corruption’ that has made The Bahamas an "increasingly important" point of entry for narcotics traffickers heading for the US.

Among the other defendants is Elvis Nathaniel Curtis, 51, an RBPF chief superintendent who oversaw aviation operations for the force, including at airports like the Lynden Pindling International in Nassau.

Prosecutors claimed that "in exchange for cocaine-fuelled bribes from drug traffickers…Curtis abused his position to facilitate the transportation of narcotics and drug-trafficking proceeds".

Prince Albert Symonette, 52, a former RBPF sergeant, is accused of having "closely worked" with Curtis as part of the scheme.

Both Curtis and Symonette are accused of taking a $10,000 cash bribe in 2023 as down-payment for helping get a future 600kg cocaine shipment through Nassau airport to the US.

It is also claimed that Curtis told drug traffickers that in exchange for $2m a "high ranking Bahamian politician would authorise the assistance and involvement of Bahamian law enforcement officials — including armed RBPF officers — in facilitating and insuring cocaine shipments". The politician was not identified in court documents.

Court documents state that Riccardo Adolphus Davis, 59, a Bahamian, claimed to be a government official and allegedly used his ‘influence with corrupt government officials’ to enable the drug trafficking.

The others charged are alleged cocaine traffickers William Simeon, 52, Ulrique Jean Baptiste, 53, Joshua McDonald Scavella, 46, a pilot who is also known as "Cow" and alleged drug trafficker Davon Revion Khaim Rolle, 34.

Three more pilots are among the accused: Darren Arthur Ferguson aka "Hubba", 54, Domonick Delancy, 36, who allegedly flew the drugs from Venezuela and Colombia to the Bahamas, and Donald Frederick Ferguson aka "DJ", 26.

All of them are from The Bahamas.

Also charged are two Columbians, Lorielmo Steele-Pomare, 59, and Luis Fernando Orozco-Toro, 58.

The group has been charged with cocaine importation conspiracy, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.

They were also accused of firearms charges and other drug trafficking charges.

So far, only Roker, Curtis Simeon and Orozco-Toro are in US custody, where they deny the charges.

The others, including Symonette, are yet to be extradited.

After the charges were first announced last September, former RBPF Commissioner Clayton Fernander said that the case was a "dark moment" for the force. He later resigned as part of the fallout over the indictment.

He said: “This is a sobering reminder that no institution is immune to breaches of trust.

“Any officer implicated in wrongdoing will face the appropriate consequences. There will be no shield of protection for those who tarnish the honour of this uniform."