Four young men were remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services on firearm charges.
Arraigned in Magistrate’s Court yesterday, before Chief Magistrate Joyanne Ferguson-Pratt, all on charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of ammunition, 22-year-old Shaday Armbrister, 25-year-old Kevin Fox, 19-year-old Perez Cuffe and 20-year-old Dominique Johnson all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
It is alleged that all being concerned together, were found in possession of an unlicensed black .40 Taurus pistol, and at the same time the four were also found in possession of five live rounds of .40 ammunition without being holders of a firearms license.
After reading the charges and accepting their pleas, Mrs. Ferguson-Pratt questioned why family members were not present at the proceeding, to which they all replied that they were not allowed any phone calls so families did not know that they were to appear in court.
As a result, Mrs. Ferguson-Pratt ordered court appointed police officers to allow the men to call their families, stating that the one right they had was to make a phone call.
Mrs. Ferguson-Pratt then told the men that they were remanded to the Bahamas Department of Corrections and scheduled to return to court on May 29 when their cases would be transferred to court number six for fixture.
Two of the four men were then charged with armed robbery and attempted armed robbery.
Dominique Johnson was charged with three counts of armed robbery, while Shaday Armbrister was charged with one count of attempted armed robbery.
It is alleged that on May 7, using an offensive instrument, Johnson robbed Rasheen Butler of a silver Nissan March valued at $5,000, and on the same day robbed Michael Johnson of a gold rope chain valued at $1,000.
It is further alleged that on May 5, while using a silver and black handgun, he robbed Latanya LaRhoda of a 2005 Ford Explorer valued at $10,000, $1,200 in cash, her passport valued at $150, and her driver’s license valued at $25.
Johnson was also charged with receiving dishonestly a 2005 Ford Explorer.
Armbrister was charged with attempted arm robbery, as it is alleged that on Sunday May 7, while in possession of a silver and black .40 Taurus, he attempted to rob the Shell Sun Express on JFK.
Both men were not required to enter a plea. They were already remanded to prison for the gun charges and were ordered to return to court on June 6 when they would be presented with a Voluntary Bill of Indictment that would fast track their case to the Supreme Court.
