A Venezuelan pilot jailed in Cayman without charge for six years is pleading with the governor and the courts to allow him to go home.
Juan Gonzalez Infante and his son Carlos Gonzalez, in interviews with the Compass, highlighted “inordinate delays” in his case, and insisted the 64-year-old’s health is suffering as a result of his incarceration.
They argue that Gonzalez Infante, who is suffering from dementia, cannot get a fair trial if he is ever transferred to the US, where he is wanted in connection with drug charges dating back two decades.
Gonzalez Infante was cleared of money laundering and smuggling after arriving in Grand Cayman in 2019 at the controls of a private jet that carried gold and cash through the islands.
Despite those not guilty verdicts, he has remained on remand at HMP Northward fighting extradition to the US.
Gonzalez Infante was named in an indictment in Miami alleging his involvement in a plot to smuggle 100 kilos of cocaine into south Florida in March 2006. He claims to know nothing about the allegations and says he was not in the US at that time.
A painfully slow extradition process continues to be fought in Cayman’s courts. He wrote to Governor Jane Owen and Chief Justice Margaret Ramsay-Hale last month to highlight the “unacceptable and unjustifiable delay”.
Now, Gonzalez Infante is speaking out in the Compass to highlight his situation and what he believes is an “abuse of process” in the handling of his case.
He has appealed his extradition and brought a ‘habeas corpus’ application against his continued imprisonment, which was heard last November. At that point, he believed he was entitled to a decision within 90 days. Eight months later, he is still waiting to hear his fate.
Meanwhile, Gonzalez Infante, who has an aircraft repair and charter business in Venezuela, says he has lost his family, his business and his reputation.
Speaking to the Compass in a series of calls from HMP Northward, he said the delays in handling his case, including a prolonged application for legal aid in which he was forced to represent himself, had caused further hardship.
Declining health and family impact
Meanwhile, he says his health is deteriorating and he has lost touch with his wife and daughter. He has four adult children from his first marriage and a young daughter from a second marriage, which has dissolved while he has been in Cayman.
“My wife took off,” he said. “She doesn’t want me to speak to my daughter so I have heard nothing from her since four years ago.”
His youngest daughter was 6 when he flew to Cayman. She is now 12.
Gonzalez Infante said his mental health is deteriorating after six years behind bars. Expert witnesses from the US, Cayman and UK have testified to that effect.
“It been very detrimental, not just for my physical but for my mental health. I’ve been suffering anxiety, depression, stress and am even now suffering Alzheimer’s dementia,” he said.
His son Carlos Gonzalez, speaking to the Compass from Venezuela, said he was very concerned about his father, to whom he speaks in daily phone calls.
“They have the wrong idea about him in Cayman,” he said. “He is not what they are claiming him to be. My father has been working hard all his life to make it through for the family. I understand there is some paperwork in the United States but they have got the wrong man.”
Gonzalez added that his father had flown all around the world, including to Spain, Italy and Canada, as well as across South America and the Caribbean, without any issues. He said that both he and his father had lived in the US for several years after the alleged offences took place and no one had ever been in touch with either of them about any charges.
More concerning at this point, said Gonzalez, is the length of time the extradition process and appeal is taking in Cayman. He believes the case should have been dealt with by now, and his father should be back home.
“He is unwell. He is starting to forget things. His health and his memory are deteriorating,” he said.
Gonzalez Infante told us he is on medication for Alzheimer’s.
Now, he says, he does not trust the US justice system and fears being thrown into a notorious immigration detention centre in Florida, where he is concerned he will not have access to medical care and legal advice.
“There is no way that I can get a fair trial after almost 20 years. This is more significant with my mental situation right now,” he said.
Pilot: ‘I was just hired to fly a plane’
He claims he has done nothing wrong and had not been informed of any charges against him in the US until he landed in Cayman. Even at this point, he says he has been provided with no evidence, and states that the date of birth and other details about him in the indictment are wrong, suggesting it is a case of mistaken identity.
On the manner of his arrest in Cayman, he said, “I was just hired to fly the plane as an international pilot. I had no involvement in any criminal activity or enterprise or anything to do with drugs or anything like that.”
His stint in Northward is the first time he has been in prison.
“It has been very hard to adjust to living in these conditions,” he said.
“I encounter a lot of depression, anxiety. My family is in a very difficult situation right now because of the political and economic situation in Venezuela. I need to move on.”
The case also focuses on a technical, legal argument about how the extradition process was handled. Gonzalez Infante’s legal team has argued that the extradition request from the US was filed after the legal time limit had expired and that the wrong treaty was used. A second arrest warrant approved by the Cayman courts and a subsequent decision to extradite him was an “abuse of process”, they claim.
Ben Cooper, KC, who appeared for the pilot at an earlier hearing, said there were “reasonable grounds, at least on the balance of probabilities … that the government (extradition) certificate was unlawfully issued”.
But David Perry, KC, on behalf of the governor and the US authorities, said Gonzalez Infante was accused of the very serious charges of bringing 100 kilograms of cocaine into the US, conspiracy to import the drug, possession with intent to supply, distribution and also money laundering for a drug cartel based in Venezuela and Colombia.