Attorneys for former Virgin Islands (VI) Premier Andrew A. Fahie focused on courtroom statements about the credibility of one undercover agent in the fake cocaine smuggling operation. Photo: GIS/File

Former Premier Andrew A. Fahie was convicted in 2024 of cocaine smuggling, and his attorneys in a United States court on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, asked for his conviction to be overturned, claiming U.S. federal agents outright lied during the trial. Photo: Internet Source

Former Virgin Islands Premier Andrew A. Fahie is being represented in his appeal by Attorney Mr Benedict P. Kuehne. Photo: Kuehne Law

Fahie was convicted in 2024 of cocaine smuggling, and his attorneys in a United States court on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, asked for his conviction to be overturned, claiming U.S. federal agents outright lied during the trial. According to a St. Thomas Source article, Fahie’s attorneys did not dispute his willing participation in the fake smuggling operation but focused on the lies of the undercover agent. 

The article states one of the confidential informants who duped Fahie had worked on a public corruption case in Mexico in 2018. The informant’s information was not used, however, because local judges found the undercover operative lacked “reliability,” according to court records.

No memory lapse or honest mistake; it's perjury

When asked about it at trial, the supervising agent denied knowing about the Mexico incident until after Fahie’s April 2022 arrest. Then, after much prodding by the seemingly exasperated judge, he said he did know about it.

The former Premier's attorneys argued before the appeals court that the agent in question was not having a memory lapse or making an honest mistake but purposely obfuscating his knowledge of the Mexican court’s findings about a key witness in Fahie’s conviction, calling it perjury.

“This pattern of concealment and false or misleading testimony goes directly to the reliability of the sting itself and constitutes outrageous conduct that violates the principle of fundamental fairness mandated by the Fifth Amendment,” the attorneys told the appeals court. “The proper remedy is dismissal; the district court’s decision otherwise constitutes a reversible abuse of discretion that is not harmless on this record.”

They also argued that the prosecution’s behaviour constituted “outrageous government conduct,” a little-used provision that may compel the court to overturn the conviction on technical grounds.

Ad-libbed undercover agent statement

According to St. Thomas Source, the appeal also aimed at a seemingly ad-libbed statement from an undercover agent — that the fictional narcotics were prepared in such a way that they would not test positive for cocaine until processed on the mainland.

If the nonexistent cocaine would not test positive for cocaine, then Fahie could not be convicted of importing a substance with “a detectable amount of cocaine,” the attorneys argued.

It was unclear when, or whether, the appeals court would rule on Fahie’s appeal. He remains incarcerated while the appeal process plays out. 

He is being represented in his appeal by Attorney Mr Benedict P. Kuehne.