From left to right: Oleanvine Maynard and her son, Kadeem Maynard.
On Monday, former Managing Director of the BVI Port Authority Oleanvine Maynard pleaded guilty to plotting to traffick cocaine through the territory. Her son Kadeem also pleaded guilty in the conspiracy that prosecutors say also involved Andrew Fahie, the territory’s disgraced premier.
In exchange for pleading guilty and saving federal prosecutors the trouble of a trial, four other counts against the 61-year old Maynard were dropped, including charges of money laundering and racketeering. Prosecutors will also reportedly recommend that the judge assess her sentence with an eye to leniency, in exchange for her cooperation in their upcoming trial of Mr. Fahie.
As of press time, the details of the younger Maynard’s plea deal have not yet been made publicly available.
The Maynards, along with Mr. Fahie, were alleged to have agreed to a scheme presented by a confidential source of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to use the island of Tortola as a safe harbor for boatloads of cocaine from Colombia on their way to their ultimate destinations - cities along the U.S. Eastern seaboard.
In an extensive sting operation, the confidential source and other DEA agents recorded conversations between them and the accused three, stringing them along with cash payments of what is popularly termed “earnest money”. In the recordings, Mr. Fahie and Ms. Maynard are both reportedly heard discussing which government officials would be able to be bribed or otherwise induced to facilitate the unhindered movement of the drugs. Ultimately, DEA agents succeeded in luring both Mr. Fahie and Ms. Maynard to a jet on the tarmac of a Miami airport on April 28, where $700,000 in illicit funds was ostensibly awaiting them to join the currency on a private charter back to the BVI.
Instead of flying back from Seatrade on a private jet stuffed with cash, Mr. Fahie and Ms. Maynard were led off the jet in cuffs and into custody in a federal detention facility in Miami. Kadeem Maynard was arrested on St. Thomas and first transferred to Puerto Rico before ultimately arriving in Miami to await justice.
Andrew Fahie’s trial is scheduled to begin in July, during which he faces charges of drug trafficking, money laundering, and racketeering.
