Gardiner Fights To Have Evidence Thrown Out

UNITED STATES – Convicted cocaine trafficker Jonathan Eric Gardiner is fighting to have key evidence in his New York drug case thrown out — and to get back some $30,000 seized by U.S. authorities.

Gardiner, who was previously sentenced to more than 18 years in federal prison for conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, is now facing fresh drug trafficking charges in both New York and Georgia.

U.S. prosecutors allege he supplied huge amounts of cocaine from The Bahamas to drug networks in Atlanta and New York between 2021 and 2026 — with the ability to move more than 2,000 kilograms at a time.

Now, in two new court filings, Gardiner is challenging the seizure of cash recovered after a plane he was on crashed off the Florida coast on May 12th.

His lawyer claims federal agents gave a misleading account of the money to help secure a search warrant.

The defense says only $5,000 was in an envelope marked “Politician-1” and has produced a bank receipt showing Gardiner withdrew $20,000 from a Top Notch Builders account the day before the crash.

Gardiner also wants evidence taken from 3 cellphones and a notebook thrown out.

His lawyer is questioning whether agents searched the water-damaged notebook before getting a warrant, after officers reportedly opened it to dry it and spotted what appeared to be payment notes.

The defense is also challenging whether investigators had enough grounds to search the phones.

And there are questions about when Gardiner was actually arrested. His lawyer says officers took control of him right after his rescue, but government records give different arrest dates.

The defense also says the copy of his arrest warrant has no details showing when or where it was carried out.

Meanwhile, prosecutors have alleged Gardiner was on his way to make payments of up to thirty thousand dollars to a Bahamian politician when the plane went down.

They also linked him to Top Notch Builders, which they say secured a $34M government contract in 2017.

Gardiner now wants a judge to review the searches, throw out any evidence found to have been unlawfully obtained, and order the return of his seized cash where appropriate.