Donville Inniss, a former Barbados cabinet minister and parliamentarian, is to stand trial on bribery and money-laundering charges in a Brooklyn federal court on June 24, next year.
The date was decided this afternoon by federal District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in consultation with Sylvia Shweder, an assistant United States attorney, and Inniss’ defence attorney, Garnett Sullivan, after the court heard that plea bargain negotiations by the two sides had “stalled” or broken down.
The former minister was charged in an indictment with one count of conspiracy to launder money and two counts of money laundering. The indictment was returned under seal by a federal grand jury sitting in Brooklyn on March 15.
He appeared in court in August and entered a not-guilty plea but Shweder told Judge Matsumoto back then that preliminary negotiations had begun back then and the government needed some time to complete the talks. (TB)
