Nightclub boss Tracy Tucker will spend the next two years behind bars after being convicted of smuggling drugs into a Caribbean island.

Tucker, 30, who had been running the Odyssey nightclub on Front Street, was sentenced by a judge at a hearing in St. Maarten yesterday afternoon following his arrest on the island in June.

The co-accused, all from St. Maarten, were given prison terms of between one and two years for their part in the smuggling operation. Tucker, as the mastermind behind the scheme, was given a two-and-a-half year sentence, although he has already spent four months in custody awaiting trial.

The court heard how Tucker and two of his co-accused were arrested at a hotel in the island's capital, Philipsburg, on June 30 following an armed police raid. Four pounds of cocaine with a street value of $150,000 was recovered in the bust.

Throughout the day-long hearing, held two weeks ago, Tucker's co-accused continually pointed the finger at him, claiming he had set up the ring and recruited them as mules.

Marc Beauvil, Michael Breed and Vivence Jacques all said that Tucker had offered them jobs at the Odyssey club and also bought them airline tickets to fly between Curacao and St. Maarten.

Breed, 20, was eventually picked up at Bermuda International Airport with $34,000 -- money that Tucker had ordered him to collect on his behalf.

"The amount of money being transacted between Tucker and his father makes it clear that he is involved in drugs trafficking and he should be put away for some time,'' prosecutor Rob Geradts said.

But Tucker denied the allegations, saying he had been framed by his former friends. He said the cash was needed to finance a business deal on the island, claiming he intended to buy a boutique.

But he did admit to packing one of five lamps which were used to bring the drugs into the island from Curacao.

On hearing the verdict, which, under the island's judicial system, is decided by a judge rather than a jury, Tucker appeared shocked and upset. He appeared to be in a daze as he was led away from court to a waiting prison van.

Tucker now has just two weeks to appeal the verdict and sentence, although his lawyer was not present in court yesterday and could not be contacted to discuss whether an appeal will be launched.

BERMUDIANS BDA