By Suelika N. Buchanan
SKNVibes.com
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| Noel Zambo Heath and Glenroy "Bobo" Matthew leaving the High Court i St. Kitts last year. Photo by SKN Observer |
(Basseterre; St. Kitts) Noel "Zambo" Heath of St. Kitts who was extradited to the US to the Federal Court to face drug conspiracy charges has plead guilty at his arraignment.
Heath pleads guilty to the 1992 drug conspiracy that involved a shipment of 28 pounds of cocaine that were seized and en route to Rochester, New York.
Heath had been fighting against his extradition for over a decade before finally the US Justice Department succeeded in his apprehension last year.
Heath plead guilty yesterday, Wednesday, Dec 6.
He was once identified by the White House as an international drug kingpin and could be sentenced to between 70 and 87 months under the terms of the plea agreement. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge David Larimer in April.
According to a news item by The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle media, his attorney Jeffrey Lichtman said that they were hopeful of getting Heath back to his family as soon as possible.
Federal authorities could not be reached Wednesday, according to the media, but in a statement they said Heath admitted that he arranged in 1992 for the cocaine to be shipped to New York City. And that he also admitted that he knew that Rochester was the destination for the cocaine.
In 1992 federal authorities heard Heath on a wiretap, apparently from his St. Kitts home, plotting the shipment of cocaine to Rochester.
The information was gleaned from the wiretap and police pulled over a tractor-trailer on the New York Thruway and discovered the 28 pounds of cocaine, which had a street value then of about $1 million.~~Adz:Right~~
The federal authorities eventually identified Heath as a key player in the drug trafficking, and a federal grand jury in Rochester indicted him in 1995.
The article went on to state that officials then initiated extradition proceedings for Heath to face criminal charges in Rochester, but he successfully fought off extradition. The media was quoted as saying, "Sometimes Heath was aided by sympathetic political powers in St. Kitts."
Heath was also known for helping out the country's poor families by providing them with produce from his farm.
In March of 2005, the authorities in St. Kitts authorities "cooperated" with the Justice Department, where Heath was finally extradited at age 56 and Glenroy Matthew was extradited as well.
They have been incarcerated since.
