BWIA flight attendant freed of ‘coke’ charges

BWIA flight attendant Frances Dow has been acquitted of all drug-related charges in the United States.

A jury deliberated for two hours on Thursday and found Dow not guilty on the four-count indictment in the United States District Court - Southern District of Florida. As a result, Dow who has been in the United States since Valentine’s Day — February 14, 2003 will return home shortly. She had been on bail pending the hearing and determination of her trial. Dow was charged jointly with former BWIA flight attendant Michael Andre Le Blanc and Gregory Oral Lakhan with four counts, including conspiracy to import five kilos of cocaine into the US, importation of the cocaine into the US, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and possession of cocaine. Dow escaped life imprisonment.

Le Blanc pleaded guilty last Monday to the charge of conspiracy and will come up for sentence before Judge Donald Middlebrooks on August 24. Lakhan also pleaded guilty to conspiracy some time earlier and his sentence will be handed down in August. While Lakhan remains on bail in the US, Le Blanc is detained at the federal prison in downtown Miami. Dow was arrested at the Holiday Inn Hotel located at the corner of 36th Street and 205 Lejune Road, Miami, on February 14, shortly after arriving from Trinidad as a member of the flight crew aboard the national airline BWIA. She went on trial on Tuesday before Judge Middlebrooks. During the trial, Le Blanc testified on behalf of the Trinidadian defendant. The prosecution alleged that Dow was arrested with a suitcase containing the cocaine. Dow denied the allegation, saying she was unaware what was in the suitcase.

At the end of the trial, the jury deliberated and found Dow not guilty on all four counts. She was represented at the trial by American attorney David Oscar Markus. As a result of Dow’s acquittal, Newsday yesterday spoke to BWIA’s Corporate Communica-tions Director Clint Williams on the situation regarding the flight attendant’s employment. Williams said he could not discuss the employment status of an employee or former employee, because it was a private matter between the company and the employee. But Newsday was reliably informed that Dow’s employment was terminated when she was arrested in Miami in February for breach of her work contract in that she was supposed to have known what was in her suitcase.

Meanwhile, Le Blanc has appealed against the decision of Judge Middlebrooks to dismiss his motion to suppress evidence. The judge dismissed the motion last Monday, but Le Blanc’s attorneys indicated their intention to appeal to the US Supreme Court. Le Blanc will know on Wednesday the date of the hearing of his appeal. Le Blanc filed the motion claimed that his rights were infringed when he was arrested at the Holiday Inn on February 14.