Donville Inniss facing two years in prison

Former Minister of Industry and Commerce, Donville Inniss will face 24 months in a United States federal prison.

The two-year sentence was handed down yesterday by Judge Kiyo Matsumoto at the Eastern District Court of New York.

Earlier this year, Inniss, a permanent resident of the US, was found guilty of two counts of money laundering and one count of conspiring to commit money laundering.

During the session, the court heard testimonies from former Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite and Barbados’ former High Commissioner to London Reverend Guy Hewitt, who accompanied Inniss into the courtroom, where they urged leniency in the sentencing.

Before the judgement was handed down, Inniss issued an apology to his family and to the people of Barbados.

In addition, Inniss’ attorney Joel Hirschhorn urged the court to consider probation or non-custodial sentence, while citing the former government minister's previous spotless record.

However, in noting consideration had gone into this, his service to his community and the various testimonies given by relatives and friends, Judge Matsumoto insisted the crime he was found guilty of was a serious one.

The former MP was then ordered to report to the designated prison by July 30 to start serving his 24-month prison term and left the court with his attorney, wife and friends.

He was also fined US$36 636.