David Dean Meadors, 52, accused of multiple firearm and ammunition importation offenses has been granted bail by Justice Marlene Carter.
On Wednesday he met with legal counsel and the judge in chambers were he pleaded with the court to be allowed to return to Florida in the wake of Hurricane Irma to prepare his family, property and business. Defense attorney, Ben Tonner, make a successful case on his behalf despite objections by Crown counsel Scott Wainwright. Wainwright argued that he's a flight risk.
It appears that the judge struggled with her decision and considered the matter overnight. Bail conditions were varied to include additional security against his unfinished Brac property. She ordered that the charge on Meadors’s Brac property be increased from $200,000 to $400,000. His travel documents were to be returned to him and he is to surrender them by Sept. 19 and be refitted with the electronic monitor by Sept. 20.
Many persons took to social media to express their dismay and shock at the decision. Some persons wondered if the rich are ultimately held to a different standard of justice. Others lamented that his unfinished property is hardly worth $400,000 in its current condition and she abscond the government would never be able to actualize that money in real terms.
Other persons wondered if he was worth incarcerating in any event given the high cost of housing prisoners in the Cayman Islands.
Meadows was arrested in early July by customs officers after they found a large quantity of ammunition in a shipping container and two guns at his home had been charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm. The bullets were recovered during an inspection of the shipping container and Meadors who is a US licensed gun holder claims he was unaware of the local law.
In court on Thursday he pleaded not guilty to gun possession for a BB gun and guilty to importation and possession of a 9mm handgun.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid