Tito Browne, a 44-year-old Guyanese man was sentenced to four years imprisonment after he was found guilty of trafficking two Jamaican nationals.

A report from the Guyanese Police Force (GPF) today (March 10) said that Browne was given two four-year term sentences yesterday and will serve them concurrently.

He was also charged with one count of withholding the passports of the two Jamaican nationals and fined $200,000. Browne was also ordered to pay $6.3M in restitution to the victims.

According to the prosecution’s case, in November of 2020 two Jamaican were promised US$5,000 to work on Browne’s campsite at Kara Kara Creek, Linden, Guyana. Their travel expenses were reportedly paid for by Browne and the plan was for them to work for two weeks.

The victims then left Jamaica in December 2020 and upon arriving at the Kara Kara Creek they were informed that they would spend six months instead. Their passports were also confiscated by Browne.

Reports are that the victims worked from the time they arrived at the campsite until April 24 with no compensation.

The victims also shared that they were visited periodically by Browne who demanded that they work more diligently, promising they would soon be compensated.

After being abandoned for three weeks by Browne, reports are that the Jamaicans left the campsite in search of other campsites, walking through swamplands until they found refuge in a logger who took them to a village where they made a police report.

Browne was arrested on April 28, 2021 one day after a wanted bulletin had been issued for him by the police.

Magistrate Fortune handed down the sentences after an eight-month-long trial that began in December 2021 and concluded last August.