The Tribune

A US judge has denied convicted drug smuggler Jonathan Gardiner bail after branding him a “substantial danger to the community" and finding that the "weight of the evidence against the defendant is very strong."

Gardiner, a court heard yesterday, had “extensive political connections in The Bahamas,” including with Politician-1, and an “extensive’” criminal history. Prosecutors said he also had a “strong connection with Bahamian officials.”

Branding him a “flight risk” with “ample reason to flee the US,” District Judge Gregory Woods said there were “no conditions” under which Gardiner could be expected to return to court for future appearances given the seriousness of the allegations against him.

Gardiner, 58, who walked into the federal court in Manhattan with his legs shackled and his arms handcuffed behind him, faces a mandatory minimum 15 years in prison if found guilty of trafficking drugs to the US with the help of a high-ranking Bahamian politician.

Defence filings claim the $30,000 he was carrying when the Election Day plane crashed off the US coast was “campaign related cash being transported on the day of a national election.”

They also revealed approximately $20,000 in Bahamian dollars was withdrawn from Gardiner’s business bank account, in the name of Top Notch Builders, a day earlier, May 11. The withdrawal notice was submitted as evidence.

Gardiner’s lawyer Susie Ribero-Ayala said that only $5,000 was meant for the as-yet-unnamed ‘Politician 1.’

Ribero-Ayala pointed out that there are few restrictions on political donations in the Bahamas, which can be paid in cash and that you could view the presence of the money “either way”.

“Consequently, the existence of Bahamian currency associated with political activity on election day is susceptible to explanations wholly unrelated to narcotics trafficking,” her filing states.

Gardiner, who was also referred to as “Player” in court documents, has denied cocaine importation conspiracy and firearms-related charges.

Yesterday, he waved at Leroy Major, the New York consul general of the Bahamas, as he entered court.

Gardiner was wearing a tan coloured top and trousers issued by the prison he is being held in.

Ribero-Ayala said that her client had not yet recovered from the ‘traumatic’ events that led to his arrest.

But she added: "He is ready to fight this case."

Calling the case “extraordinary,” she said that Gardiner was on a plane with ten other voters or campaign workers when it went down in international waters.

While everyone else was allowed to leave - the Bahamian consulate sent a plane to take them away - Gardiner was placed in custody.

Ribero-Ayala said that there was a “reasonable explanation” for the $30,000 in Bahamian currency found on Gardiner in the plane.

Prosecutors have said that the money was bundled in a manner that was consistent with narcotics trafficking and that had the name of the Bahamian politician on it.

Gardiner is said to be a key figure in a sprawling plot which involved a high-ranking Bahamian politician and am undercover DEA source discussing a $30 million cocaine shipment inside the Bahamas Parliament building.

He was arrested on Election Day last month after the aircraft he was travelling in from Marsh Harbour, Abaco, to Grand Bahama crashed off the Florida coast.

He and the other survivors were picked up by the U.S. military in international waters, and flown to Florida, where Gardiner was arrested. Most of the passengers, according to an image posted on social media, included Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) supporters wearing party shirts.

Turning to the evidence against Gardiner, Ribero-Ayala dismissed it as a ‘lot of talk’ and shifting allegations from two indictments, the first in Florida and the second in New York.

There was “nothing that’s directly tied to Mr Gardiner except an iCloud account we aren’t even aware of who it belongs to,” she said.

The court heard that Gardiner was offering a $50,000 bond to secure his release along with the home of a family member in Florida and GPS monitoring. Gardiner would remain at a house in New York while he awaited trial and only come out to buy groceries or go to church, Ribero-Ayala said.

Her filing said he had “demonstrated a willingness to comply with strict supervision and agrees to conditions including GPS monitoring, surrender of travel documents, and any additional measures the court deems appropriate.”

But Assistant US Attorney Juliana Murray painted a very different picture of Gardiner.

She brought up his previous US drug trafficking conviction from 2006 for which he served half of his 220-month sentence before being deported to the Bahamas. It is not known why he was released early or whether he served any time on his return to The Bahamas.

Despite the conviction, Gardiner “has not been deterred from participating in the same type of activity on a massive scale,” Murray said

The prosecutors said that the pre-sentence report, a court-ordered assessment of Gardiner, had “substantially undervalued” Gardiner’s assets.

She cast doubt on the claim by Gardiner’s lawyers that the $30,000 in Bahamian currency he was arrested with was “almost the entire value of his net worth.”

Murray said that despite Gardiner’s efforts to “distance” himself from Top Notch Builders, his construction company in the Bahamas, he was still affiliated with it.

The company got a $34 million contract with the Bahamian government in 2017 and another $20 million loan since then, Murray said.

“Mr Gardiner has profited substantially from these government contracts”, she said, adding this explained the prosecution's “deep concerns” about how much Gardiner was really worth.

Murray added that the Bahamian politician whose name was on the bag of money - a figure that has been called ‘Politician-1’ in court documents - was the same person who also met with a DEA source in the Bahamian Parliament.

Alleged participants in the drug trafficking operation were told that the politician was “someone who could help with the drug trafficking activities,” Murray said.

As Judge Woods read out his decision to deny bail, Gardiner put his fingers to his brow and massaged his forehead.

“The danger to the community and other persons posed by the defendant’s release is substantial”, the judge said.

Given that Gardiner is charged with coordinating the trafficking, releasing him would “continue to pose a danger to the community”  because he would carry on.

Another reason to keep Gardiner in jail was that he was a “substantial risk of flight,” the judge said, adding there was “ample reason (for Gardiner) to flee the US.”

The next date for Gardiner to appear before the court is September 23.

Ribero-Ayala initially said she wanted an earlier trial date than March 1, 2027, when other defendants are due to go on trial, but she changed her mind and agreed to a status conference in September instead.

Others charged in the alleged plot include Elvis Nathaniel Curtis, 51, a former chief superintendent with the Royal Bahamas Police Force, who is alleged to have facilitated drug smuggling through major airports including Lynden Pindling International Airport.

So far only one defendant has admitted his role in the plot, Darrin Alexander Roker, 51, a former naval officer with the Bahamas Defence Force today.

In January Roker, who was facing 20 years in jail, was given four years in prison after the court was told he is terminally ill with prostate cancer.

Prince Albert Symonette, 52, a former RBPF sergeant, ‘closely worked’ with Curtis as part of the scheme, it is claimed.

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