AN ex-sergeant of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) was yesterday sentenced to 36 months for conspiracy to commit a felony . 

Coleen Easton of Lot 21 Ogle Front, East Coast Demerara, was found guilty for the offence that said on Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at Georgetown, she conspired with person or persons to commit a felony, to wit, obtaining money by false pretence.
That is to say she obtained the sum of over $2.8M with a Bank of Guyana cheque number 04-062408 from the Accountant General‘s Department, Ministry of Finance, property of the State of Guyana.
The 60-year-old convict is a retired typist clerk from the GDF and was later employed as a secretary for a customs broker.
The matter was prosecuted by Sergeant Vishnu Hunt operating from the chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions. A total of eight witnesses, three of whom were police witnesses, two persons from the Ministry of Finance, one witness from the Auditor General Office and two witnesses from the Bank of Guyana testified in the matter.
According to the prosecution, Easton is the mother-in-law of Nigel Adams, who faced several charges during the investigations in this matter. On the day in question, Adams took the accused to the Ministry of Finance to uplift a cheque in the sum of over $2.8M, which Easton encashed at the bank of Guyana and Adams gave her $5,000.

Prosecutor Hunt in submission told the court that Easton went to the Bank of Guyana to uplift the cheque and was not entitled to any gratuity in that sum, since she had already received gratuity. He added that she did not conspire with person or persons, since she did not prepare any vouchers because they had been prepared by persons in the Ministry of Finance.

In her defence, Easton said she had collected the cheque and after changing it, she received $5,000 from Adams.

Easton was represented by Attorney-at-Law Mr. George Thomas. However, the matter was first called before Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton on July 21,2011. She was placed on $125,000 bail during her trial and the matter was subsequently transferred to Magistrate Judy Latchman.