Retired army major David Clarke, who was to be one of the main witnesses in the trial of convicted Guyanese drug kingpin Roger Khan, will know his fate on Friday.

Khan’s acceptance of a plea deal saw him not going to trial but instead being given a 15-year jail sentence, which he began serving with effect from October 16 last, in a New York jail.

Clarke will come up for sentencing before Judge Raymond J Dearie at 11:30 a.m. He was initially due for sentencing on November 2 last, but this was postponed upon a request by his lawyer Gary Schoer to the Judge.

Clarke is before the U.S. court on drug trafficking charges three years ago.

The charges say that between October 2003 and April 5, 2005, Clarke, his brother Hubert Clarke, called ‘Dun Dun’, and Hubert’s girlfriend, Shelly Mcqune, together with others, did knowingly and intentionally conspire to import more than five kilogrammes of cocaine into the U.S., and that between the same dates, they also conspired to distribute the cocaine in the U.S.

The former army major was publicly accused by President Bharrat Jagdeo of being in league with the Buxton criminals while he was stationed in the troubled community, and being in charge of an operation dubbed ‘Operation Tourniquet’ which sought to rid the village of criminal elements during an upsurge in crime in the country in the aftermath of the 2002 Mash jailbreak.

In 2003, Clarke, then a Captain, had his promotion blocked by President Jagdeo in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the GDF.

And when he was subsequently sent overseas by the Army to undergo training, the President ordered that he be brought back home.

President Jagdeo, however, made known the reasons for his action when in response to a query at a news conference. The president had said that he had “confidential information” on Clarke from persons he knew in Buxton, that he (Clarke) was in league with the criminal elements while he was stationed in Buxton.

According to the President, news of Clarke’s detention in the U.S. made him feel “vindicated” for his actions against Clarke. He said, however, he never made any disclosures about the information he had on Clarke because he did not want to betray the confidence of the persons who had given him the information.