26th August, 2011
A New York Judge has dismissed the 17-count criminal possession of forged instruments case filed against the current Imo Deputy Governor Jude Agbaso, in December 1994.
Judge David Sullivan of the Nassau County Court granted the dismissal following a plea request made by the prosecutor, the Nassau County Assistant District Attorney Brian Lee and the defence counsel, Mrs. Laura Chukwuma.
The judge, in an order dated August 24, also vacated arrest warrants issued against Jude Agbaso, 53, in connection with the case.
Agbaso then a resident of New York was arrested on June 20, 1994 on a first-degree 17-count indictment for possession of forged 100 dollar bills.
An arrest warrant was later issued for him after he reportedly jumped bail in the case which also involved Eugene Harding.
In granting the plea agreement by the prosecutor and the defence, Judge Sullivan granted Agbaso’s plea of a one-count of a non-criminal violation charge of disorderly conduct under Section 240.20(2).
On Wednesday, Agbaso was represented by his counsel, who agreed to pay a 250 dollars fine for the disorderly conduct.
A copy of the court disposition obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), and dated August 24 said: “This order will certify that all seventeen counts obtained with the aforesaid indictment were resolved through a plea to one count of disorderly conduct under count one.”
“Accordingly, all seventeen counts charging the defendant with criminal possession of a forged instrument in the First Degree under IND 90454 dated December 30, 1994 are now dismissed in satisfaction of this plea and any and all bench warrants issued in connection with this matter have been vacated effectively immediately,” Judge Sullivan said.
Speaking to NAN, Chukwuma, who was in court with her client’s elder brother Chief Martin Agbaso, said the judgement meant the “Deputy Governor is free to enter the United States at will.
“He can enter the U.S at his pleasure whenever he wants because he is free to, there is no warrant for his arrest anymore, it’s been thrown out.
“Seventeen charges were filed in this case for criminal possession of forged instruments (forged currency).
“Those 17 first degree felony counts have all been dropped and dismissed entirely by not just the judge but also by the prosecutor.
“His Excellency Jude Agabso never entered any plea for the resolution of any of those seventeen charges because they were thrown out, meaning again that he has been vindicated and his innocence has been established beyond any reasonable doubts.
“There is no felony pending against him right now, he is not a convicted felon, he has never been a convicted felon and he will never be a convicted felon, ” the Agabso’s family lawyer said.
The defence counsel also explained that the plea for disorderly conduct entered by his client under section 240.20 sub section 2 (New York law) “is not a crime, felony or misdemeanour.
“The disorderly conduct that he pleaded for is a mere violation, it’s like a traffic citation; it’s an infraction not a crime.
“At the time he was arrested for the 17-count charge he professed his innocence at the top of his voice, he maintained his innocence and disputed any and all facts that were inconsistent with his innocence.
“Because he was innocent, he knew he had done nothing wrong and he was overtly emotional about it and somewhat loud, so he pleaded to talking too loud in the public at the time of this incident,” she said.
Martin Agbaso, the deputy governors elder brother, described the outcome of the case as “total vindication” for his brother.
“I believe in the American judicial system and this is a clear demonstration that an innocent man, it doesn’t matter how much it takes, will at some point be vindicated.
“I am happy as a member of his family; when all these issues came up he stood as a man and suffered very humiliating write-ups in the papers,’’ the senior Agabso told NAN.
“The whole family dealt with the trauma that came with it but our faith in God remained resolute and we knew that at some point the will of the God of justice will prevail,” he added.