22261: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-Federal magistrate denies bond to former Haitian drug ch (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Thu, Jun. 03, 2004





Federal magistrate denies bond to former Haitian drug chief

BY JAY WEAVER

jweaver@herald.com


The former head of Haiti's drug enforcement agency must remain behind bars
until he stands trial on drug-smuggling conspiracy charges, a Miami
magistrate judge ruled Thursday.

Evintz Brillant, 32, was arrested in Port-au-Prince last week by U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration agents in a broadening investigation into alleged
drug-trafficking in the administration of ousted Haitian President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Brilliant is accused of soliciting and accepting tens of thousands of
dollars in bribes from drug traffickers to facilitate shipments of their
cocaine through Haiti to the United States.

Allegations of the conspiracy in Haiti's police department surfaced in 2003
when Brillant was arrested by fellow officers for allowing a Colombian
airplane carrying more than 1,000 kilos of cocaine to land on a highway near
the capital.

Brilliant, a nine-year veteran of the police department, was fired from his
drug enforcement job in February 2003.

His lawyer, Howard Schumacher, argued Thursday that Brillant should be
eligible for bail because of his law enforcement career and family ties in
Miami.

Magistrate Judge Theodore Klein rejected the request, saying the criminal
complaint shows ``he abused his position.''

Brilliant is among four ex-officials in Aristide's former administration who
have been arrested on drug-conspiracy charges. A former pro-Aristide
senator, Fourel Celestin, was also arrested Tuesday as part of the widening
federal investigation.

So far, no evidence has been presented in court that links the alleged
corrupt network to Aristide himself. He is in exile in South Africa.

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