Opinion ID: 3061858
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Newton’s Testimony

Text: Knowles’ nephew, Nehru Newton, testified that he was living in Nassau in the spring of 1995 when he starting working for Knowles running drugs from Jamaica to the Bahamas on “go-fast” boats.10 R12 at 250, 259-63. In April 1995, Knowles called Newton and told Newton to go to Freeport, Bahamas, to pick up a boat from Kyle Weech (“Weech”). Newton was to navigate the boat, a white and blue 37 Midnight equipped with four engines, to Jamaica in order to transport drugs back to the Bahamas. Biswick Musgrove (“Musgrove”) and an individual named “Bart” went with Newton to help drive the boat to Jamaica, which was a twenty-four hour trip. Marvin Weech (“Marvin”), Kyle Weech’s brother, met Newton with the boat at a dock in Freeport. Per Knowles’ instructions, Newton and his crew headed for Ochos Rios, on the north side of Jamaica. Newton drove the first twelve hours and Bart drove the remaining distance. Once they arrived in Ochos Rios, they went to meet Knowles at the Gentle Winds Hotel in Saint Mary, Jamaica, about a mile or two outside of Ochos Rios. Herbert Beneby (“Beneby”), a Bahamian police officer, Eric Gardiner (“Gardiner”), Weech, and Brian Bethel (“Bethel”) all were with Knowles at the Gentle Winds. A few nights after Newton 10 Newton explained that “go-fast” boats are speed boats custom-fitted with multiple engines and modified fuel tanks which enable them to travel long distances at high speeds in order to evade law enforcement vessels. 12 had arrived in Jamaica, Knowles told him to take the boat back to the Bahamas. When Newton, accompanied by Weech, Bethel, Musgrove, and an individual named “Gustavo,” who worked for Gardiner, were about one mile off the Jamaican coast, two small fishing boats pulled alongside the 37 Midnight. Two Jamaican fishermen began handing cocoa bags filled with a total of 600 kilograms of cocaine to Weech and Bethel, who put the bags in the hatch in the bow of the boat. After the drugs were loaded onto the boat, they tried to leave the area, but by that time the weather had turned bad, causing the boat to take on water and sinking the engines. They were able to bail out the water using buckets and a hand pump, but the engines were no longer any good. Musgrove removed the cocoa sacks from the hatch and passed them to Weech, while Bethel jumped overboard and swam to land to get help. When a fishing boat came to their aid, they transferred the drugs onto the boat and offloaded them on shore. Newton, who had stayed with the 37 Midnight, flagged down another fishing boat, which pulled him to the marina. Newton called Knowles from the marina, and Knowles instructed them to return to the hotel. Newton and the rest of his crew returned to the hotel, where they met with Gardiner. Gardiner said he would hire a mechanic to fix the 37 Midnight and a captain to run the drugs because he did not believe Newton was experienced enough to run 600 kilograms to the Bahamas. 13 Once Weech’s boat had been repaired, Weech, Bethel, Gustavo, Musgrove, the mechanic, and the new captain set out for the Bahamas, leaving at nightfall to avoid detection by the U.S. Coast Guard. As had happened previously, two small fishing boats met the 37 Midnight offshore and loaded cocaine onto the 37 Midnight. They traveled along the northern coast of Cuba, where they remained until the following night. They then began to make their way to an agreed upon location off Andros Island in the Bahamas where they were supposed to meet Marvin to refuel. Marvin was not at the prearranged location when they arrived, so they continued on to Andros, where they offloaded the drugs on a small, uninhabited island with thick vegetation. Newton, Weech, Bethel, Musgrove, and Gustavo stayed with the drugs while the mechanic and the captain took the boat to Andros. The captain and the mechanic returned after about an hour and a half and told the rest of the crew that they “got to move fast” because people on the island knew that they had drugs. They put the drugs back on the boat and headed for Bimini, Bahamas, where they delivered the cocaine to Marvin. Newton, Musgrove, the mechanic, and the captain returned to Freeport with Weech’s boat, and from Freeport, Newton took a plane back to Nassau. In total, the trip took approximately thirty-six hours. Newton testified that Knowles paid him $60,000 in U.S. currency for his role in the transaction. 14 A few months later, in October or November 1995, Knowles asked Newton to navigate Paul Beneby’s (“Paul”) boat, a 32 Midnight with two engines, down to Ochos Rios, Jamaica, to pick up 200 kilograms of cocaine. Newton took the same route, but this time, Musgrove, Myron Mortimer, “MI,” and “Chino” were on board with him. When they arrived in Jamaica, Newton went to the Gentle Winds Hotel to meet with Knowles, Gardiner, and Beneby. After about a week’s stay, Newton, MI, Chino, Musgrove and Mortimer departed Jamaica under cover of night. Once again, two fishing boats approached them offshore as they were leaving Jamaica and transferred the cocaine, along with 500 pounds of marijuana, to their boat. About four hours into their return trip, the propeller on one of the engines malfunctioned. As they were fixing the propeller the following morning, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter spotted the boat and hovered overhead. MI hurried to finish repairing the propeller and when the helicopter flew away, they sped into Cuban waters where the Coast Guard could not follow. Newton navigated the boat past Guantanamo Bay to Ragged Island, about twenty to thirty miles off the north end of Cuba. They remained there until nightfall and then left for the Bahamas. As they were leaving Cuban waters, they observed a U.S. surveillance plane and two more helicopters. Newton sped back into Cuban waters and drove the boat inside a cove. Newton held the wheel while the others stashed the drugs in the 15 bush. They then washed out the inside of the boat where the drugs had been stored with water and dish soap, and returned to Ragged Island. From Ragged Island, Newton drove back to Nassau, where he met with Knowles and told Knowles what had happened. The following day, Knowles instructed them to return to the cove and look for the drugs. Paul, who was a pilot, flew the crew in his plane to the cove where they had stashed the drugs and dropped the plane down to about 600800 feet. At that point, they saw what appeared to be soldiers putting the drugs into the back of an army truck. Back in Nassau, Newton told Knowles and Gardiner what they had seen in Cuba. To “correct” the problem of the lost 200 kilograms of cocaine and 500 pounds of marijuana, Knowles told Newton to run a 37 Midnight belonging to an individual named “Casey” from Freeport to Jamaica. Casey drove the boat halfway to Acklins Island, Bahamas, in order to show Newton how to operate it. Also on board were Mortimer, Musgrove, “Unc,” and “Powers.” Once they arrived in Acklins, Casey took a plane back to Freeport and the rest of the crew went on to Ochos Rios, Jamaica, where they met with Knowles, Gardiner, and Beneby at the Gentle Winds Hotel. A week after arriving in Jamaica, Newton left for the Bahamas in the speed boat, carrying 3,000 pounds of marijuana. Newton navigated to Acklins Island, where another boat was supposed to retrieve the drugs. Per Knowles’ orders, 16 Newton gave the marijuana to a man in Acklins and then headed back to Jamaica, a twelve-hour trip, to pick up another 3,000 pounds of marijuana. After receiving the drugs in Ochos Rios, Newton navigated to Island of Key Santo Domingo, between Ragged Island and Cuba, where he ran out of fuel. As the boat drifted in the water, Newton spotted a Cuban Coast Guard boat in the distance and dumped the 3,000 pounds of marijuana overboard. Knowles informed Newton he was fired after Newton told Knowles that he had destroyed the load of drugs. The following spring, in April or May 1996, Knowles contacted Newton about a new job doing “air drops.” Id. at 357. Knowles explained that he and Gary McDonald had “a little arrangement” regarding air drops, and gave McDonald’s telephone number to Newton. Id. at 358-59. Newton called McDonald, who was living in Colombia, and coordinated an air drop off the northern coast of Cuba. Pursuant to their arrangement, Newton, “Rod,” and Lester Beneby each drove a boat to a predetermined location at sea where they waited for an airplane to drop forty-eight bags of cocaine. Newton and the others retrieved the bags from the water, loaded them onto their boats, and delivered them to Bethel in Freeport. Knowles paid Newton $70,000 for his participation in the air drop. Newton then testified that he worked for Knowles in July and August 2000 rescuing boats that were running drugs from Jamaica to the Bahamas when they 17 broke down.11 Newton also testified regarding various recorded conversations from July 2000, which were published to the jury, between Knowles and members of Knowles’ drug organization. In one call, Knowles was overheard talking to Berkley Hepburn (“Hepburn”) about the discovery of Knowles’ stash house in Kingston by Jamaican police. After Hepburn informed Knowles that the narcotics squad had confiscated four bags of cocaine during a raid of the stash house, Knowles instructed Hepburn to pack the remainder of the drugs “in the big white van.” Id. at 385-86. Knowles was overheard in another conversation telling Beneby, who referred to Knowles as the “General,” that he, Knowles, had to pay the Jamaican police $200,000 and lost 100 kilograms of cocaine because Beneby 11 Prior to Newton’s testimony regarding his relationship with Knowles in 2000, the court issued the following cautionary instruction to the jury: [E]vidence of acts of the defendant which may be similar to those charged in the indictment but which were committed on other occasions . . . must not be considered in deciding if the defendant committed the acts charged in the indictment. However, you may consider this evidence for other very limited purposes . . . . . . . . [I]f you find beyond a reasonable doubt from other evidence in this case that the defendant did commit the acts charged in the indictment, then you may consider evidence of the similar acts allegedly committed on other occasions to determine whether the defendant had the state of mind or the intent to commit the crime charged, whether he had the motive or opportunity, whether he had the plan or preparation, whether it established identity or whether it was a result of accident or mistake. R12 at 373-75. 18 failed to follow his orders to blindfold a Colombian who had been sent to verify that the drugs were still at the stash house. In other conversations, Knowles was overheard advising Hepburn and an individual named Julian Russell that Frank Cartwright (“Cartwright”), who smuggled drug profits back from the United States into the Bahamas for Knowles in 2000, had been caught by U.S. federal agents with $3 million in drug proceeds. In a 30 July 2000 call with “Rafael,” a Colombian national who was living in Jamaica, Knowles asked Rafael whether his “people” had been seen delivering drugs to the stash house in Kingston, and in a call with Bethel, Knowles was overheard getting telephone numbers to give to Derrick Blake (“Blake”) so Blake could deliver the cocaine to Colombians in Miami.