Amaoteng has NOT pleaded Guilty -counsel

Dennis Adjei-Brenyah, Counsel for Eric Amoateng, has emphatically and categorically denied speculation by some media houses that his client has pleaded guilty to the alleged charges being leveled against him.

The Inquirer newspaper reported on Thursday that the ex-Member of parliament (MP) for Nkoranza North has finally conceded culpability, changing his initial plea to a guilty one.

Amoateng and one other Ghanaian, Nii Okai-Adjei, are facing eight counts of conspiracy to transport and distributing heroin in the United states.

Hon. Amoateng and Nii-Adjei were arrested on the November 12th, 2005 for concealing heroin in pottery and hiding it in a storage facility in Stan island, New-York.

Lawyer Adjei-Brenyah noted that "the story is absolutely false and totally untrue and June 6th 2007 has NOT been set for the sentencing of my client and no date has being fixed in June as the defense team are yet to meet the Prosecutor to fix a date".

According to him, June 6th is a date for the status conference.

"I therefore challenge those press houses to come out clean and point out where they got their facts from, because by feeding a false information to the public, though it has no merit/s on the case but it creates different meaning and wrong signals."
"How can my client plead guilty without my knowledge or my consent?” Adjei-Brenyah asked with anger.
He explained further that media houses should do through investigations before going out for publications, because it is now that we have got a tall lists of witness to appear before the court for cross examinations.
"I still insist that Hon. Amoateng is innocent of the charges leveled against him until the case proves otherwise. I believe that my client will be exonerated in due course as the facts will come out.”

When this reporter contacted Mr. Steven Leo Alessandro, the Prosecutor of Brooklyn Attorney's Office on phone, he also denied that June 6th 2007 has been scheduled for the sentencing but rather a day for status conference as the defense counsel had indicated.

Dennis Adjei-Brenyah, Counsel for Eric Amoateng, has emphatically and categorically denied speculation by some media houses that his client has pleaded guilty to the alleged charges being leveled against him.

The Inquirer newspaper reported on Thursday that the ex-Member of parliament (MP) for Nkoranza North has finally conceded culpability, changing his initial plea to a guilty one.

Amoateng and one other Ghanaian, Nii Okai-Adjei, are facing eight counts of conspiracy to transport and distributing heroin in the United states.

Hon. Amoateng and Nii-Adjei were arrested on the November 12th, 2005 for concealing heroin in pottery and hiding it in a storage facility in Stan island, New-York.

Lawyer Adjei-Brenyah noted that "the story is absolutely false and totally untrue and June 6th 2007 has NOT been set for the sentencing of my client and no date has being fixed in June as the defense team are yet to meet the Prosecutor to fix a date".

According to him, June 6th is a date for the status conference.

"I therefore challenge those press houses to come out clean and point out where they got their facts from, because by feeding a false information to the public, though it has no merit/s on the case but it creates different meaning and wrong signals."
"How can my client plead guilty without my knowledge or my consent?” Adjei-Brenyah asked with anger.
He explained further that media houses should do through investigations before going out for publications, because it is now that we have got a tall lists of witness to appear before the court for cross examinations.
"I still insist that Hon. Amoateng is innocent of the charges leveled against him until the case proves otherwise. I believe that my client will be exonerated in due course as the facts will come out.”

When this reporter contacted Mr. Steven Leo Alessandro, the Prosecutor of Brooklyn Attorney's Office on phone, he also denied that June 6th 2007 has been scheduled for the sentencing but rather a day for status conference as the defense counsel had indicated.