Michael Andrew Morgan, along with the cocaine that was seized from his home
Found guilty of drug trafficking last July, for which he was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment by Senior Magistrate Sunil Scarce, 53-year-old Michael Andrew Morgan has appealed his conviction and sentence, and his lawyers Glen Hanoman and Everton Singh-Lammy are expected to petition the High Court soon for him to be released on bail pending appeal.
After he had been found guilty of trafficking seven pounds of cocaine at his home in Ixora Avenue in Eccles, East Bank Demerara, Morgan, a pilot, had had the custodial sentence imposed on him in addition to a fine of $4,917,000.
It has been reported that on the day in question, June 27, 2022, Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) officers, acting on intelligence, conducted an operation to unearth narcotics at Morgan’s home; and that had resulted in the discovery of a quantity of cocaine, 27 rounds of 9mm ammunition, one .32 Taurus firearm, and one magazine with 25 matching rounds of .32 ammunition. The items were sized, and Morgan was arrested and prosecuted.
Notwithstanding the Magistrate’s decision, Morgan, in maintaining his innocence, had told a Probation Officer that he was “set up by someone”, and that the drug was not found at his home.
In his sentencing remarks, Magistrate Scarce had mentioned that Defence Counsel Glen Hanoman had asked him to consider giving his client the three-year minimum prison sentence, but in dismissing that appeal, the Magistrate had pointed out that no unique arguments had been advanced for the court to take such action into consideration.
A variety of factors, including the seriousness and frequency of the offence, and the commercial quantity of cocaine involved, had been taken into account by the Magistrate in arriving at an appropriate sentence. According to the Magistrate, the trafficking of illicit drugs is a scourge on society, and thus a message needed to be sent to deter persons who might be inclined to commit such crimes. This offender has been given full credit for time spent in pretrial custody.
The case was prosecuted by CANU Prosecutor, Attorney-at-Law Thalia Thompson. Morgan had made his first court appearance on June 29, 2022, and had been sent on remand.
Before Magistrate Scarce and High Court Justice Gino Persaud, Morgan’s lawyers had made bail petitions, but those were all rejected. As such, he was kept on remand pending the hearing and determination of his trial.
Morgan, who completed his secondary education at Queen’s College, has a degree in aeronautical science from a United States university, and is also a certified pilot, according to his lawyers. Prior to his incarceration, he worked as an auto dealer.
Michael Andrew Morgan and his brother Peter Morgan have been under the CANU radar for more than two decades. In fact, Peter Morgan was deported from the United States back in 2015, after serving time in federal prison on drug trafficking charges. He had been arrested for conspiring to import, possess and distribute five kilograms of cocaine in the US between December 2001 and August 2003.
