By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Court Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A MAN was sent to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services yesterday after admitting to damaging his ankle monitor while on bail for murder.
He, with two other men, was also charged in the Magistrate’s Court with drug possession.
Travis Thompson, 23, represented by attorney Maria Daxon, faced Magistrate Shaka Serville on a charge of damage to his electronic tag and smart strap (EMD).
Sometime between 1.20pm on May 12 to 11.40pm on August 24, Thompson damaged his EMD — worth $841.50 — which is the property of Metro Security Solutions. The accused was ordered to wear this monitoring device as a condition of his Supreme Court bail in connection with the 2018 shooting murder of Stanavio Stanley Lord.
Thompson was further charged with Klee Allonce, 25, and Miguel Paul, 22, also represented by Ms Daxon, for possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply.
In connection with this same offence, Allonce and Paul were charged with money laundering and deceit of a public officer.
On August 23, the three accused were charged with being in possession of 3¼ ozs of Indian hemp valued at $200. During their arrest police confiscated $114 from Allonce as it was believed to be the proceeds of crime.
In court, Thompson pleaded guilty to both charges. However, his two co-accused pleaded not guilty to most of their charges, with the exception of Paul who pleaded guilty to deceiving a public officer.
After consulting with Thompson over his matter, Ms Daxon asked for the court’s discretion on his behalf. In addition to Thompson admitting to smoking the drugs for his own personal use, he claimed that an attempt has been made on his life recently.
When the magistrate asked why Thompson did not report this shooting incident to police he said that he was afraid he’d be shot on the way to or at the station given his former gang associations.
Magistrate Serville then said that Thompson was lucky not to be charged with bail violation or have had his bail revoked by Justice Frazer while he awaits a trial that is set for 2024.
While the magistrate told the accused that this kind of behaviour doesn’t have to define him, he still placed Thompson on remand while he considers his case.
Thompson is expected to return for sentencing on September 16 when a probation report was also ordered to be prepared.
As for the other two accused, there was no objection to bail from prosecutor Sergeant Deon Barr even with Paul admitting to having a previous drug charge.
The remaining accused were each granted $3,500 bail.
Their trial is set to begin on November 29.
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