Newly elected president of the Berbice Chamber of Commerce and Development Association (BCCDA), Samantha Reid, says that the story of her rising above adversity should be one demonstrative to youths that one mistake does not determine their destinies, as she was convicted of drug trafficking in the United States in 2006 and sentenced to 60 months imprisonment.

“The story to which you refer is true and it happened when I lived in the United States where my family had migrated. I was very young and unwise in the ways of the world and I was set up and got caught. I was found guilty and did the time,” Reid told the Stabroek News yesterday when contacted.

“When that time was done, I returned to Guyana and purposed to live the life I was brought up to lead. I worked hard to educate myself, to build very successful businesses from the ground up and to take care of my children. The most important lesson I was to teach to my children and to young people everywhere is, that they should never give up in the face of adversity. They are ultimately the only ones responsible for their life outcomes no matter what,” she added.

Pointing out that all actions have consequences, Reid said that while the sentencing was over 17 years ago, she has used it as introspection and “have been back here succeeding academically and as an entrepreneur for over 10 years now”.

She is grateful that the citizens of her home country has been forgiving and have given her a second chance and now she says she now endeavours to positively give back.

According to the US Department of Justice documents, United States v. Samantha Reid Criminal Docket No. 05-872 (FB), Reid was convicted by a jury of all four counts of the indictment, in violation of “21 U.S.C. §§ 841, 846, 952, 960, 963, and 18 U.S.C. § 2”.

Judgment was passed down by Justice Frederic Block on the 22nd of December 2006, as “to Samantha Reid (2), Count(s) 1, 2, 3-4, Dismissed; Count(s) 1s, 2s, 3s, 4s, Receives 60 months imprisonment on counts 1-4 of the superseding indictment, which shall run concurrently; 5 years supervised release on counts 1-4, which shall run concurrently; $400 special assessment. The Court recommends that the defendant be placed in a facility which offers a drug treatment program,” court documents states.

Reid had appealed the sentence but withdrew the action in June of 2007.

Details of the case state that on October 18, 2005, twenty boxes of cargo arrived at John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport in Queens, New York, from Georgetown, Guyana. “The boxes were addressed to the defendant and sent by Peter Koulen, and ostensibly contained more than 1,000 pounds of mints and other foodstuffs ... Upon inspection by Customs Agents, the boxes were found to contain several hundred jumbo-sized mints containing more than $2 million worth of cocaine. The defendant had received multiple shipments of alleged foodstuffs from Peter Koulen over the course of several months, ranging from nearly 300 pounds to more than one ton,” the case details stated.

“Once the agents removed the cocaine from the October shipment, the boxes were reassembled and a controlled delivery was planned. The defendant arrived at JFK on the same date, October 18, 2005, and inquired about the shipment from Guyana.

Unbeknownst to the defendant, her presence at the airport on that date was captured by video surveillance. On October 21, 2005, the cargo was released for pickup, and the defendant arrived at the JFK cargo facility to meet with van driver Von Clarke,” it added.

Clarke had testified at trial that he loaded the 20 boxes into his moving van, and the boxes were so shabby that

“you could literally see right through” them. “When Clarke told the defendant to complain to the manager about the condition of the boxes, she replied, “Load it, and let’s get out of here.” Once the boxes were loaded into the van, Clarke drove according to directions that the defendant relayed from co-defendant, Wayne Heber, with whom she was speaking on her cell phone. After the van pulled up to a nearly empty storefront on St. John’s Place in Brooklyn, the defendant paid the van driver and got out of the van to speak with Heber. Shortly after, agents arrived at the area driving unmarked but recognizable government vehicles, Heber looked up quickly and said something to the defendant. “Agent McAlpin testified that it appeared that Heber and the defendant were splitting up, and both persons subsequently were arrested,” the documents said.

After agents advised the defendant of her Miranda rights, she initially said that Heber and the van driver were “total strangers,” but later changed her story.

She was found guilty by a jury and sentenced.

Start afresh

Reid said she returned to Guyana to start afresh and the lessons learned has seen her worked hard to rise to today becoming the region’s first President of the

Chamber.

A single mother of three, she currently runs the SAWA Investment Inc, a company named from the first letter of her and her three children’s names.

The company’s mission statement, according to the GCCI website, aims to “Provide our customers with exceptional service, quality equipment and supplies to effectively support their operations and projects. We are dedicated to giving our customers the widest range of choices.”

Services offered includes Steel Structure Construction, Greenfield Construction, Construction of residential, commercial, and institutional buildings, General Infrastructure construction, Recreational Construction and General consulting and intermediary service among others.

When she was elected President of the BCCDA, the business body informed that Reid’s business peers had unanimously elected her and that it was members who had encouraged her to run. It also pointed out that she had once served the organisation as its Public Relations Officer.

“Ms. Reid was unanimously elected when the chamber which has been in existence since 1932, held its overdue Election of Office bearers at its office, Main Street and Charles Place, New Amsterdam Berbice,” a release had stated.

Representatives of 15 business entities were elected to serve on the Council which includes commercial banks, insurance companies, beverage companies, and several other organisations.

In her address to the body, she “called upon members for their continued support during her tenure as President and urged the business community to get on board and involved to help the body achieved it goals,” the release stated.

“She took the opportunity to extend an invitation to past members to return to support the Chamber and its activities and encouraged all members to play their role from an individual and company perspective to see development. The BCCDA plans to organize a number of activities that should touch all sectors of the community.”

“She said that the Chamber will strive to continue to foster good working relationships with a number of organizations with the ultimate aim of benefitting the Citizens of the community and Guyana as a whole. Some of her goals are to lead a Chamber that will truly serve the business Community and be an advocate for change. To see the chamber grow from strength to strength and return to a semblance of its past,” it added.