22 January 2005 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – Defendant Was Former Member of the Royal Bahamian Police Force and the Melvin
Maycock Drug Trafficking Organization
Marcos Daniel Jiménez, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida;
Robert Joura, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration;
Jesus Torres, Special Agent in Charge, Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
announced today that defendant, Sypron Elvis Wilson, one of the alleged members of
the Melvin Maycock drug trafficking organization, was sentenced on January 18,
2005, by United States District Court Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga in Miami, Florida.
Judge Altonaga sentenced Wilson to forty-two (42) months’ imprisonment, three (3)
years’ supervised release, and assessed a $100 special assessment. On October 19,
2004, Wilson pleaded guilty to conspiring to import narcotics into the United
States, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 963 and 952(a).
Wilson was one of twenty-one (21) defendants named in a fourteen (14) count
Indictment pending in the Southern District of Florida, in Miami. The Indictment
charges various narcotics trafficking offenses committed by alleged members of the
Maycock organization, which was considered to be the largest drug trafficking
organization operating out of the Bahamas. The multi-year international Organized
Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, known as Operation
“Double Talk,” was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with
assistance from numerous federal, state, local, and foreign law enforcement
agencies. Their efforts have resulted in domestic and foreign seizures of
thousands of kilograms of cocaine and marijuana.
At the time of the offenses, Wilson was a member of the Royal Bahamian Police
Force. He was charged in the Indictment related to his involvement with Maycock
and other co-conspirators in importing 195 kilograms of cocaine into the United
States in September 2003. Wilson and over fifteen (15) other co-defendants were
arrested on June 24, 2004, as part of a multi-national coordinated take-down
involving the cooperation of numerous countries, including the Bahamas and Jamaica.
The unsealing of the Indictment and the internationally coordinated arrests were
announced by Attorney General John Ashcroft, DEA Administrator Karen Tandy, and
ONDCP Director John Walters at a press conference held in Washington, D.C. on the
same day.
Wilson, like most of his co-defendants, was arrested in the Bahamas. Shortly after
his arrest, Wilson voluntarily waived extradition to the United States and then
pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy. Wilson’s voluntary waiver of
extradition and prompt guilty plea were factors considered by the court in
sentencing Wilson to the forty-two (42) month prison term.
Four (4) other defendants also have pleaded guilty in this case. One of them,
Michael Layne, was recently sentenced. He was sentenced to a term of forty-six
(46) months’ imprisonment, three (3) years’ supervised release, and a $100 special
assessment, after pleading guilty to the conspiracy charge (count 1) of the
Indictment. Layne was charged in the Indictment related to his involvement with
Maycock and other co-conspirators in importing five hundred forty (540) kilograms
of marijuana into the United States.
The three (3) other defendants that have pleaded guilty are Pedro Smith, Tavaris
Rolle, and Raymond Adderley. On December 10, 2004, Smith pleaded guilty to counts
1, 2, and 12 of the Indictment, which charged him with conspiracy to import cocaine
and marijuana into the United States, in violation of Title 21, United States Code,
Sections 963 and 952(a); conspiracy to posses with intent to distribute cocaine and
marijuana, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846 and
841(a)(1); and attempted importation of cocaine, in violation of Title 21, United
States Code, Section 952(a), respectively. On November 9, 2004, Rolle pleaded
guilty to counts 1 and 3 of the Superseding Information, which charged him with
conspiracy to import cocaine and marijuana, in violation of Title 21, United States
Code, Sections 963 and 952(a); and importation of cocaine, in violation of Title
21, United States Code, Section 952(a), respectively. On December 1, 2004,
Adderley, who was added as the twenty-second named defendant in a Second
Superseding Information, pleaded guilty to count 2 of that pleading, which charged
him with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana, in
violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846 and 841(a)(1). Smith’s
sentencing hearing is set for March 8, 2005, before Judge Altonaga. Rolle’s and
Adderley’s sentencing hearings are set before Judge Altonaga on February 28, 2005,
and February 10, 2005, respectively.
Fifteen (15) other defendants named in this case are in custody and awaiting
extradition from the Bahamas and Jamaica. Defendants, Melvin Maycock and Dennis
Peter Gayle, a/k/a “Michael Gayle,” remain fugitives.
Mr. Jiménez commended the investigative efforts of the Drug Enforcement
Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms, and Explosives, United States Coast Guard, Broward Sheriff’s Office, Palm
Beach County Sheriff’s Office, Homestead Police Department, Margate Police
Department, Florida Game and Fish Commission, as well as the Queen’s Counsel of the
Bahamas, Jamaican Prosecutor’s Office, Royal Bahamian Police Force, and the
Jamaican Constabulary and Defense Force. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant
United States Attorneys Jerold McMillen and Andrew Levi.
