Ex-nightclub manager Curtis Simons is to go on trial on drugs charges in a New York City court next month, it was revealed yesterday.

Simons is to appear in the city's District Court on August 5 accused of conspiring to import cocaine worth up to $200,000 into Bermuda.

If convicted, Simons, who is in his 40s, could face ten years to life in jail.

Simons was back in Bermuda last week after a judge varied the conditions of bail.

His US lawyer, James Drucker, said: "We had asked for permission for him to come to Bermuda to see his family and tend to his business.

"He was not viewed as a risk and the judge said `fine' -- Mr. Simons is now back in New York.'' Mr. Drucker added that he was upbeat about the outcome of the trial, for which a not guilty plea has been entered.

He said: "I'm very confident -- and I tend to be a pessimist, if anything.'' The Black Family Productions co-owner and former manager of Court Street's Spinning Wheel Nightclub was detained by the US Drug Enforcement Agency in a hotel room in Manhattan in May last year.

He was charged with conspiring to import around eight kilograms of cocaine from Curacao in the Dutch Antilles to Bermuda, via New York.

The arrest was made with the co-operation of the Bermuda Police.

Simons -- who was originally remanded to the Brooklyn New York House of Detention -- was later released on bond (bail) on his own recognisance, which means no money had to be put up.

But one of the conditions of bail was that travel was restricted to three states around New York unless prior permission was granted by a judge.

BERMUDIAN BDA CRIME CRM