One confesses – jailed for 8 years and fined $800,000

UNDER heavy police security, the six alleged gunmen who were nabbed last week at a police roadblock at the Grove Public Road, East Bank Demerara (EBD) in a stolen motor car with arms and ammunition were on Tuesday charged with a series of criminal offences.

About 11:30 hrs, the men, Steve Hercules, 30, of Sisters Village, West Bank Demerara; Nabidigi Gobin, 33 of Charlotte Street, Bourda; Reynard Khan, 31, of Cooper Street, Albouystown; Mark Prince, 39, of Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara; Edward Skeete, 30 of Independence Boulevard; and Marvin Blackman, 27, of South Ruimveldt made their appearance before Magistrate Sunil Scarce at the Providence Magistrate’s Court.

According to reports, on April 10, the men attempted to rob the residence of a Chinese man at Supply, EBD. However, the man’s son who was at home at the time heard a suspicious sound coming from outside and made checks. The men were attempting to break into the property and when an alarm was sounded, they ran from the area. They were subsequently stopped at the roadblock.

The six men, were jointly charged with having two 9 MM Glock pistols along with 22 live rounds, one Beretta pistol with 11 live rounds, and a .32 Taurus pistol with six live rounds in their possession on April 10 at the Grove Public Road, without being holders of firearm licenses.

Hercules confessed to the charges while the other defendants denied the allegations.
A joint charge was read against Prince, Khan, Gobin, Skeete and Blackman for conspiring with Hercules to change the license plate of motor car, PVV 6204, to HC 4543. They denied the charge.

Hercules was charged separately for using a fake number plate of HC 4543 on registered motor vehicle, PVV 6204. He also confessed that he was paid $50,000 to transport the bag with the firearms to Georgetown.

Hercules further told the court that he picked up the other defendants, whom he had never met before, along his journey to not raise suspicion to police since he wanted the car to look like a regular taxi.
Prince, Khan, Gobin, Skeete and Blackman were remanded to prison until April 20 where more charges are expected to be laid. Hercules was sentenced to eight years in jail along with a $800,000 fine.

When the men were stopped last Tuesday night by the police, the items were found on the floor of the car and upon examination, the cops observed that the registration number, PVV 6204, was engraved on the windscreen and lights of the car.
The motor car was reportedly hijacked on March 25, 2018 at Princes Street in the city while its owner was working it as a taxi.

Reynard Khan was then taken before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan and charged in connection with a $28M armed robbery committed on a Chinese man.
Khan denied that on May 20, 2017 at Craig, East Bank Demerara, while being armed with a handgun, he robbed Dai Zhung of a minibus valued $2.3M, a quantity of fish glue valued $25M, three cell phones and $500,000 cash- all totalling $28,780,000. He was remanded to prison until April 24.

Last August, Blackman was charged with the same offences and is currently on trial at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
The six men are no strangers to investigators, since they had been charged with offences similar in nature and two of the men were recently freed of murder by the High Court.

Skeete, called ‘Pretty Boy’ and Nabadinghi Gobin, called ‘Dangles’, were freed last February at the High Court for the murder of Mocha, EBD resident, Ryan Clementson, who died at the GPHC, after being attacked in the vicinity of the Turning Point in Tucville, Georgetown, on July 14, 2015.

Blackman’s rap sheet for charges at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court dates back to 2009. He is currently before the court for the $1.5M armed robbery committed on the Wild Caught Fresh Fish Depot at Meadow Bank, East Bank Demerara, in 2016.

In August 2017, he was charged for possession of a Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol and eight live rounds of 9mm ammunition. He was also charged with a series of armed robberies committed around Georgetown. Additionally, in 2011, he was charged with the $5.4M heist from the office of the Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice) Regional Democratic Council (RDC).

Prince called ‘Fine Man’ and Khan were jointly charged earlier this year for robbing a 66-year-old pastor of $1.8M, as he left a city bank.