NEW ORLEANS (API) – With boxes of high-powered rifles and military gear stacked nearby, a Houston man testified he hatched a plot to invade the tiny Caribbean island of Dominica after discarding a ”bloody” plan to take over nearby Grenada.

Michael Perdue. 32, the admitted ringleader of the bizarre scheme, told a U.S. District Court jury Tuesday that his invasion plans were prompted by his quest for money and power.  He admitted telling lies to recruit a nine-member band of makeshift mercenaries to help him.

PERDUE’S comments came as a trial opened for three of the would-be invaders:  Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard Steven Donald Black, 27, of Birmingham, Ala.; long-time active Klansman Joe D. Hawkins, 37, of Jackson, Miss., and former Klansman Michael Norris, 21, of Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The three face various charges, including weapons violations and planning an armed expedition against a friendly nation.  If convicted, each could receive up to 50 years in prison and $38,000 in fines.

SEVEN OTHER men, including Perdue, pleaded guilty in a plea bargain with authorities.  They have not yet been sentenced.

Black, giving his own opening address to jurors Tuesday, said it was not money but patriotism that moved him to get involved in the plot.

He accused Perdue of lying when he told the would-be mercenaries that the coup would prevent a communist government from taking over Dominica and would help to thwart the spread of communism in the Caribbean.

“PERHAPS we were naive in all of this.  Perhaps we were stupid.  But we were duped,” Black said.  “We were motivated by the highest motives, by patriotic ideals.”

A State Department specialist in Caribbean affairs, Richard Howard, testified that U.S. officials were unaware of any communist leanings in Dominica.

Perdue testified that his scheme began with an offer to help ousted Grenada leader Sir Eric Gairy regain power in exchange for money and position on the small, mountainous island in the southern West Indies.

HIS FOCUS switched to Dominica when the first plan proved overambitious, he said.  “We decided it would take a major force, and it would be bloody to take Grenada,” he said.

Besides recruiting the nine mercenaries, Perdue said he spent the next year trying to get money to fund the Dominica operation, getting about $40,000 from Houston businessman James C. White and another $10,000 from L.E. Matthews of Jackson, Miss.

Perdue said former Dominica Prime Minister Patrick John agreed to give him tax-free rights to gambling, lumbering, tourism, a high military post, posts for 30 military “advisers” and $350,000 in return for deposing current Prime Minister Eugenia Charles.
 
Source unknown.  Scan of the clipping found online with no publication details.
 

Comments are closed.