Prosecutors
in the United States will ascertain the psychological wellbeing of
Nigerian journalist, Abdullahi Shuaibu who reportedly robbed some banks
in the country.
Nigerian journalist, Abdullahi Shuaibu
Abdullahi Shuaibu, the Nigerian charged with a string of bank
robberies in the U.S. two weeks ago, got some relief from prosecutors on
Monday who amended the charge. Shuaibu was arrested on April 17 and
accused by U.S. authorities of robbing four banks in Manhattan, New
York.
When the matter came up for hearing, Shuaibu, who was present in
the court, pleaded “not guilty”, through a member of his legal team, Tim
Pruitt.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the case has been
changed from ‘First Degree Robbery’ to ‘Attempted Robbery’ in the
‘Second Degree’ and ‘Robbery’ in the ‘Third Degree’.
Consequently, the case also moved from Class ‘B’ felony to Class
‘D’ felony, which is a significant reduction in the charge against him.
NAN reports that with the significant reduction in the charge, Shuaibu’s
jail exposure has also been significantly reduced.
Pruitt, after taking the “not guilty” plea for Shuaibu, sought for
an adjournment. The judge adjourned the matter until June 26. Another
member of the defence team, Olayinka Dansalami, told NAN that Shuaibu
had a hope of even a lighter sentence and that his legal team was not
resting on its efforts.
“With the class ‘B’ offence, Shuaibu could receive a jail sentence anywhere from five to 25 years in jail.
“But with the class ‘D” offence, he can get ‘conditional
discharge ‘time serve’ or ‘probation’ but the maximum sentence is five
years in jail,” he said.
‘Time serve’ is a condition whereby an accused is sentenced to the time already served in detention.
‘Conditional discharge’ is where an accused is given another chance but warned to be of good behaviour for a period of time,’’ Dansalami said.
“The charge against him has also moved to ‘non-violent charge’ from ‘violent charge’. We thank God for the reduction.
“We (defence attorneys) will continue to fight the case
vigorously and aggressively despite the reduction of his jail exposure.
Our goal is to spare our client of any time in jail.
“His bail condition has also been reduced.
“But we may be able to further reduce the bail if someone can
come forth. So, overall, there is a change in circumstances and it is
not as serious as before.
“Within the next few days, we will look at a lot of options that will help him.”
According to him, now that the severity of the charge has
significantly reduced, it behoves the judge to temper justice with
mercy.
“Before, when he was charged with ‘class B’ felony, the best a
judge can do is to give him minimum sentence of five years on each of
the two ‘B felony charges.
“But now the judge can do something because of the reduction of
the charge. The judge has some latitude to lessen the sentence from
conditional discharge or time served or probation up to five years.
“So to be clear, despite the fact that the charges have been reduced, our approach to the case remains the same.
“We are not taking anything for granted and we are committed to defend our client to the best of our abilities.’’
Dansalami said one of the best social workers in the State of New
York, James Graves, has already been assigned as part of the team to
help ascertain Shuaibu’s psychological wellbeing at the time the offence
was allegedly committed.
-NAN