Lance Small goes on trial today

He was freed two years later after a High Court judge ruled that the Muslimeen members were recipients of an amnesty and therefore they could not stand trial for offences including treason and murder. That decision proved to be wrong when the Privy Council determined the appeal, but it would have been unlawful at that time to re-arrest the insurgents.

But today, Lance Small, also known as Olive Enyahooma-El, goes on trial at the United States Federal Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, charged with conspiracy to possess firearms four years ago.

It was touch and go as to whether Small was well enough to face his trial. But after a status hearing in Florida on Thursday, it was decided that the Trinidadian prisoner is ready for his case.

Surgery was performed on Small two weeks ago at the Jackson Memorial Hospital after it was discovered that Small’s urinary tract was blocked. The reason for the blockage was caused by an old bullet injury which Small sustained years ago. Several of Small’s relatives are in Miami for the trial.

The trial is not expected to last more than one week.

There are just five witnesses for the US government — including a John Doe, who has been described as a former member of the Jamaat al Muslimeen, now in protective custody in the US, and two police officers who were involved in a sting operation on May 30, 2001 when Trinidadian Keith Andre Glaude was caught accepting a bag of assault weapons, rifles, and silencers, at an abandoned warehouse in Fort Lauderdale.

Glaude, who suffered from a kidney ailment, pleaded guilty to the charges and was jailed for two years. He received medical attention while incarcerated.

He has since been released from prison and is one of the witnesses against his long-time friend, Small. One of the conditions for his testimony is that he will remain in the US although he is a convicted felon.

Small, 70, a father of seven, of Gonzales, Belmont, was extradited to Florida on November 24, 2004 to face the charges. He was taken away by two US Marshals who came here on a commercial flight to take the fugitive back.

Small was arrested on March 6, 2004 at the corner of Piccadilly and Duke Streets, Port-of-Spain, on a provisional warrant. He was indicted by a Grand Jury on May 23, 2003 on three charges.

For eight long months, Small fought the extradition and lost. On September 21, 2004, Senior Magistrate Joanne Connor, presiding in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court, ordered Small’s extradition to the United States.

During the period April 17, 2000 and May 30, 2001, it is alleged that Small, also known as ‘‘Fires,’’ conspired with persons known and unknown, to possess firearms — 60 AK-47 rifles, ten MAC-10 machine guns and ten machine gun silencers. Small faces ten years in jail if convicted.