Carlos Humberto Solis Velasquez was a wrongly accused man. Attorney Bower Rodriguez demanded that he was innocent, yet the federal government indicted him for international drug trafficking of 1,659 kilograms of cocaine worth $40,000,000. After two weeks of trial, the federal jury agreed with Attorney Bower Rodriguez – NOT GUILTY.
Carlos is a 42 year old life long fisherman and cook from Honduras. He was offered a job as the cook on board an 80-foot commercial fishing vessel called the Mr. GEO. On the day that the ship was to set sail, Carlos accepted the job of replacement cook after the real cook did not show up for what was supposed to be a three month commercial lobster fishing trip. Carlos and 12 other innocent crew members set sail from the port of La Ceiba, Honduras. All were excited by the prospect of having a job – some for the first time, some as young as 15 years old, and some were veteran fishermen like Carlos. A mile or so offshore, a speed boat loaded with barrels of gasoline and armed men arrived at the Mr. GEO and spoke with the Captain and purported owner of the Mr. GEO. Some of the crew, including Carlos, questioned why they were taking on barrels of gasoline when the Mr. GEO used diesel fuel. The Captain told them that the gas was to be later transferred to other scuba boats which needed gasoline. The speed boat, the purported owner of the boat, and the armed men headed back to shore. Despite the Captain’s explanation, the crew remained suspicious but they knew that their family was on land and that, if the barrels were actually for other drug boats, that they had better remain quiet or risked being killed or even worse risked their family being kidnapped or killed.
The Mr. GEO sailed nearly 150 miles east and the crew enthusiastically caught over 500 pounds of lobster over the next several days. The crew was happy because their pay was based upon how much lobster was caught and the catch was already abundant only a few days into the trip. Then came the call from the purported owner of the boat to the Captain on a secret satellite phone: a speed boat was sinking and the Mr. GEO, the Captain and crew needed to go save the three fishermen on board … or at least that is the reason the Captain told Carlos and the crew for leaving the lobster fishing grounds.
The Captain ordered the crew to pull the anchor and the Mr. GEO headed to the spot of the sinking speed boat. While headed towards the sinking boat, the Captain received another call on his secret satellite phone: give the barrels of gasoline to another speed boat that is headed to the Mr. GEO. The Captain gave the order to the crew and the barrels of gasoline were given to the speed boat. At about the same time, the sinking speed boat was spotted and eventually met up with the Mr. GEO. On board the slowly sinking boat were guns, murderers and 1,659 kilograms of cocaine valued at $40,000,000. The Captain ordered the crew to bring the men on board. The crew complied with the order and began to untie the speed boat which was still loaded with the cocaine. The captain of the speed boat, “El Gordo,” saw that the crew was letting the boat float away still loaded with the cocaine and threatened them that if they lost the cocaine, they would die. The crew stopped untying the boat and loaded it on to the Mr. GEO.
Within hours, a United States Coast Guard “warship,” US Coast Guard planes and helicopters, and US Coast Guard inflatable speed boats were dispatched to the Mr. GEO with one mission: arrest everyone on board and seize all of the cocaine. All men on board the Mr. GEO, now the original crew plus the three from the speed boat, were arrested, indicted for conspiracy to distribute cocaine in the Middle District of Florida, United States District Court, Tampa Division, and after 28 more days at sea – 5 days spent floating on the Mr. GEO and 23 days shackled to each other on board various government boats – brought to Tampa, Florida to begin court proceedings.
After several months preparing, Attorney Bower Rodriguez and the attorneys of the other innocent crew members arrived at the courthouse to begin trial and exonerate their clients. Four days into trial, El Gordo and one of the other men on board the speed boat testified that all of the crew knew that the Mr. GEO was a drug boat and that its real mission was not lobster fishing, but rather a drug transport & storage boat and re-fueling of drug boats. After nearly a full day of cross examination by Attorney Bower Rodriguez and others, the jury learned that the two drug traffickers pleaded guilty to the charges and that they signed a plea agreement with the government in exchange for their testimony. In fact, if they cooperated with the Government, their sentences would be reduced. The jury also learned that the admitted drug traffickers likely lied about not having guns on board because they knew that they would get more prison time if they possessed guns. The jury also learned that two of the admitted drug traffickers had participated in the murder of at least five people suspected of stealing drugs. Most importantly, the jury learned through cross examination that the crew was threatened that, if they didn’t take the $40,000,000 worth of cocaine on board, they would all be killed.
Attorney Bower Rodriguez argued in closing argument that the admitted drug traffickers were lying and that they could not be trusted because, first, they were murderers, and, second, they lied to the jury in order to gain favor with the government and obtain a sentence reduction. After a near two-week trial, the jury deliberated for two hours and returned a verdict of NOT GUILTY. Today our client Carlos Solis Velasquez is a free man, at home with his family.