The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON ljohnson@tribunemedia.net THE $26,000 that was confiscated from three Americans yesterday in Magistrate's Court was revealed to be a percentage of the more than $1 million overall winnings of a recent poker tournament at the Atlantis Resort. This disclosure was made by 18-year-old Sean Ruane of Maywood, New Jersey, who with his elder brother Michael Ruane, 23, pleaded guilty to falsely declaring the amount of money in their possession while going through the US pre-clearance at Lynden Pindling International Airport. The brothers were arraigned before Deputy Chief Magistrate Carolita Bethell in Court 8, Nassau Street, on a charge of making a false declaration to an officer of the US and failing to declare the accurate amount of money - $26,158 - in their possession. The New Jersey natives told a US officer they were not in possession of funds exceeding $10,000, while they were actually carrying $26,158 in US bills and British pounds. Their 18-year-old cousin Thomas Freeman Jr, pleaded guilty to abetting them in their actions. It was revealed by prosecution that a secondary search of the defendants brought on by the nervousness of the sweating younger brother, showed that the brothers were each in possession of $9,400. Sean had admitted to officers that the money had come from a poker tournament in Nassau. Officers later discovered that Freeman Jr was travelling with the pair and it was discovered that the remainder of the $26,000 was on his person. He initially told officers that the money was his but confessed that it came from Sean. They had done this to get through the pre-clearence section easily as they were late for their flight. Freeman had acknowledged his relation to his co-defendants and confirmed that the Ruanes were brothers. Police were contacted and the three were cautioned and arrested in connection with the incident. After the three men accepted the facts stated by the prosecution, Deputy Chief Magistrate accepted their "unequivocal plea of guilt" and convicted them of the offences. At this point, Keith Seymour, their defence attorney, pleaded with the magistrate not to give the young men a custodial sentence, as the incident was an "innocent mistake". "These are two brothers and a cousin. Their trip to Bahamian paradise has turned into a nightmare." He said that the trio have "always travelled together" and were "accustomed to pooling their resources together." He reasoned that it was their first time travelling as a group to the Bahamas and that they thought they could do the same here, assuming that the declaration law related to an individual. The deputy chief magistrate informed the defence attorney that the law pertaining to the $10,000 declaration refers to a family and not individually. Seymour, after the correction, continued on to say that the three college/university students, who had no previous convictions in the Bahamas "or back home", did not waste the court's time and pleaded guilty right away. He said that "they are aware that the funds will be confiscated" and "they are sorry and would like to plead for a non-custodial sentence" to return home to their families. Before handing down her decision, the deputy chief magistrate asked the accused how they got the amount of money that would be confiscated. Sean Ruane said that "we invested money in some of our friends." "One of them won," he added, "and we got a percentage." The overall winner of the recent poker tournament at the Atlantis Resort walked away with $1.2 million. She acknowledged the submissions made by Mr Seymour, but said that the defendants had sought to deceive the system. "All you had to do was fill out a form, instead you intended to deceive the officers at the pre-clearance." "And now you've lost all this sum of money," she added. Deputy Chief Magistrate Bethell ordered that the $26,158 be confiscated but did not fine or sentence them "because you have no convictions in this jurisdiction and because you did not waste the court's time and pleaded guilty." "The confiscation of funds is punishment enough. The conviction remains."