By Travis Chase | HGP Nightly News|
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — A veteran Police Detective Sergeant attached to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has been completely exonerated of all criminal corruption charges. The ruling brings a definitive end to a grueling four-year legal battle after a senior magistrate determined that the state’s case lacked the basic evidence required to prove he stole intercepted narcotics.
Senior Magistrate Sunil Scarce, presiding over the Diamond-Grove Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, officially dismissed the high-profile charge of Larceny by a Public Officer against Detective Sergeant Elfannando Newman. The decision follows years of intense litigation spearheaded by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), which had accused Newman of pocketing a substantial cache of marijuana that had been officially entrusted to his custody during a drug interdiction.
The legal saga traces back to an initial joint-services intercept where tactical ranks discovered between 45 and 50 pounds of compressed marijuana stuffed inside a vehicle occupied by two men and a woman. According to SOCU’s case file, the seized narcotics were transported to the Timehri Police Station and directly handed over to Newman for cataloging and formal lodging.
The state subsequently slapped Newman with criminal charges in June 2022, alleging that between February 27 and March 1, 2021, the detective deliberately falsified station logs to record only three parcels weighing approximately 3,122 grams (6.8 pounds), while failing to physically lodge the remaining balance. Investigators used that data discrepancy to conclude that Newman had stolen the missing narcotics for personal gain.
However, in delivering his final judgment on June 23, 2026, Senior Magistrate Scarce found that the prosecution’s evidence was fundamentally insufficient, inadequate, and plagued by inconsistencies, failing to meet the strict legal standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
In an official victory brief issued immediately following the ruling, prominent defense attorney Eusi Anderson highlighted that Detective Sergeant Newman consistently and defiantly maintained his absolute innocence, even after being interdicted from active duty and placed on half-pay while the matter crawled through the judicial system.
Welcoming the magistrate’s decisive ruling, Anderson expressed relief that his client’s professional integrity has been fully restored. The defense team confirmed they are moving forward with administrative filings to the Police Service Commission (PSC) to secure Newman’s immediate reinstatement to the Criminal Investigations Department, allowing him to resume his public duties with his full rank, seniority, and back-dated salary entitlements intact.
