Dataram to serve eight years in jail after guilty plea to new charges

Days after being handed over by the Suriname police, convicted drug trafficker Barry Dataram yesterday learned that he would be spending the next eight and a half years in jail. In addition to the five-year sentence that was handed down in his absence last month, Dataram was yesterday sentenced in a Georgetown court to a total of three and a half years in jail for charges of attempting to defeat the administration of the law to avoid the consequences, forging a passport and leaving the country without presenting himself to an immigration officer. Dataram, who pleaded guilty to the charges, was yesterday charged along with his common-law wife, Anjanie Boodnarine, with whom he had fled ahead of his sentencing last month on a joint charge of possession of cocaine for trafficking. While Dataram was found guilty of the crime, Boodnarine was acquitted due to insufficient evidence. Meanwhile, attorney Clevaughn Humphrey appeared for Boodnarine, 21, of Lot 79 Patentia Housing Scheme, West Bank Demerara, and sought to get her released on bail, while saying she was not a flight risk. However, Police Prosecutor Jeffers stated that Boodnarine was indeed a flight risk and should not be granted bail because she may flee the jurisdiction again. He added that the case file is complete and the police are prepared to proceed with her trial.