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Multi-jurisdictional, international investigation into cocaine smuggling ring led to eight arrests, seven guilty pleas
The last of eight people accused of running a cocaine smuggling ring has arrived in the United States after losing a lengthy extradition battle to avoid returning to the U.S. where he faced conspiracy to import and export cocaine charges.
Prine George Alfonso Jones, of Birmingham, Great Britain, was initially arrested in the United Kingdom in February 2009.
On December 13, 2012, Jones appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor on an indictment charging him with conspiracy to import and export cocaine.
According to information from the press release, U.S. District Attorney Paul J. Fishman said Jones, and his co-conspirators began smuggling cocaine from Jamaica and St. Lucia in July 2006 to the U.S. for distribution in England and other countries.
Court documents state that Jones allegedly purchased cocaine from narcotic suppliers in the West Indies and elsewhere for brothers Roger and Romeo Folkes, and Mervin Francis to conceal within the retractable handles of luggage.
The Folkes' brothers and Francis would then recruit narcotic couriers including Tajara Barnes, and Genard Howard to smuggle the drug filled luggage aboard commercial airlines from the West Indies bound for the United States.
Upon arrival, Barnes, Howard and others would give the luggage to another co-conspirator, Cortnie Spencer, who then passed the baggage to drug couriers scheduled to travel to Great Britain.
Once in Great Britain, the couriers would deliver the cocaine to Jones, Nigel Roberts and others in exchange for payment.
The superseding Indictment, which stemmed from a multi-jurisdictional and international investigation into the alleged narcotics trafficking ring, resulted in the arrests and convictions of the additional following individuals:
Nigel Roberts, “Skang,” 33, of Birmingham, England: Defendant entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to import and export five or more kilos of cocaine, on Oct. 21, 2009. Roberts received 80 months in prison on Nov. 15, 2010.
Cortnie Spencer, “Skippy,” 34, Queens, New York: Defendant entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to import and export five or more kilos of cocaine on April 19, 2010. She was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Sept. 30, 2011.
Mervin Francis, 35, of Jamaica, Queens: Following the defendants September 2009 extradition from Great Britain he appeared in federal court in April 2010 where he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import and export cocaine. Francis admitted to receiving the narcotics in Great Britain in addition to Western Union transfers, sent as payment for the cocaine, on behalf of the conspirators. He received 40 months in prison on August 9, 2010.
Tajara Barnes, 35, and Genard Howard, 35, both of Brooklyn, New York:
Both defendants were apprehended in London on May 6, 2008. The indictment did not indicate when Howard and Barnes were extradited back to the United States, but the accused pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import and export cocaine on April 27, 2010. Both admitted to conspiring to travel from the United States to St. Lucia on April 24, 2008, for the purpose of bringing back narcotics on May 1, 2008. While in St. Lucia, they received narcotics from individuals including Francis. They admitted to then traveling from New York to London on May 5, 2008, with narcotics hidden in their suitcases.
On November 15, 2010, Howard was sentenced to 60 months in prison. Barnes was sentenced to 25 months in prison in February 2011.
Roger Folkes, 39, and his brother, Romeo Folkes, 28: Both extradited from Jamaica in November 2010:
Both pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Dennis M. Cavanaugh to conspiring to import and export more than five kilos of cocaine, and were held without bail until sentencing. In October 2011, both men were sentenced to 120 months in prison. In addition to their prison sentences, Judge Cavanaugh tacked on five years of supervised parole after the brothers are released from prison.
Fishman credited special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Andrew M. McLees; and the DEA, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA, New Jersey, Robert G. Koval, in coordination with police officers with the West Midlands Police Complex Casework Unit in Birmingham; U.S. Department of Homeland Security, HSI Attaché, Kingston, Jamaica; and officers of the United Kingdom Border Agency and the Jamaican Fugitive Apprehension Team (JFAT), which is composed of officers of the Jamaican Police and the U.S. Marshals Service, in Kingston, Jamaica – for the investigation leading to the extraditions of all defendants.
Fishman further thanked the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs for its assistance in effecting the extraditions.
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