It has been 10 months since former prison officer Arnold Geovanny Cabrera Diaz was first arrested and subsequently charged with smuggling ganja into Northward Prison. During that time he has made six appearances before the Summary Court and has yet to enter a plea.
Speaking on behalf of Cabrera Diaz, attorney Amelia Foshuene told Magistrate Philippa McFarlene that, despite “some progress having been made, more time is still needed to finalise ongoing discussions”.
“I crave the court’s indulgence, as the latest update I’ve received indicates that we are to have a meeting either today or Saturday,” said Foshuene on Wednesday. “From that meeting, we will be able to have a discussion with the office of the DPP, at which stage we will know how the matter will be moving forward.”
Cabrera Diaz faces two counts of smuggling contraband, two counts of possession of ganja and two counts of possession of ganja with intent to supply. He also faces one count of breach of trust by a public officer and one count of giving a false address to a police officer, for a total of eight charges.
“The past five appearances have ended with counsel stating that sensitive discussions were ongoing,” said McFarlene. “I would really like to see this matter progress, and so I will allow another adjournment. However, when the matter next returns, I hope something substantial can be done.”
Cabrera Diaz was released on bail.
He is one of two prison officers who last year were charged in relation to separate and unrelated charges of smuggling ganja into HMP Northward.
Rudolph Rambaran
In February, Rudolph Rambaran pled guilty to smuggling packages of ganja into the prison.
Rambaran has admitted to one count of smuggling contraband, and two counts of possession of ganja. At the time of the offences, he was employed as a prison officer at Northward.
According to court documents, officers at the prison were tipped off that he was smuggling contraband into the jail, so a sting operation was set up to catch him in the act.
The documents revealed that on the morning of 9 June 2021, when Rambaran arrived at the prison, he was stopped by a senior officer who escorted him to a room to be searched.
“When asked if he had anything he wanted to disclose, he said he had two packages of ganja in the back pockets of his pants,” according to the court documents. “When officers searched him, they found two blue packages of vegetable matter suspected to be ganja, which had a combined weight of 9.13 ounces.”
Rambaran also confessed to having another 6.29 ounces of ganja and two cellphones in his car which were seized by officers.
He has been remanded into custody and is expected to be sentenced in the coming weeks.
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I suppose the longer this goes on the larger the bill will be from his attorney – who is paying her?.