Montano to be sentenced today

Three-time Power Soca Monarch champ Machel Montano and hit songwriter/producer Kernal Roberts are expected to present themselves before a Port-of-Spain magistrate today for sentencing. Montano, who was crowned the 2013 Groovy Soca Monarch and shares the 2013 Power Soca Monarch title with Austin “SuperBlue” Lyons and Roberts, is to reappear before Magistrate Maureen Baboolal-Gafoor in the Port-of-Spain Seventh Court.

Montano, 37, was found guilty on four counts of assault and using obscene language. Roberts, 31, was found guilty on two counts of assault. The ruling was handed down by Baboolal-Gafoor on December 10, five years after the trial began. Rodney “Benjai” Le Blanc and Joel “Zan” Feveck were also charged alongside Montano and Roberts in relation to a fracas outside the Zen nightclub in Port-of-Spain on April 26, 2007.

The four men went on trial in 2008, charged with assaulting Russell Pollonais and Brandis Brown, while Montano was additional charged with assaulting Janelle Lee Chee and Gerard Bowrin, and using obscene language. Le Blanc and Feveck were freed of one and two assault charges, respectively, on December 10.

Attorneys for Montano and Roberts were granted an adjournment on January 17,  after a second order by Baboolal-Gafoor for a probation officer's report on their suitability to perform community service. During the last hearing, prosecutor GeorgeBubsy indicated that after a review of the Community Service Order and discussions with the Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard, the option of community service was not available to both men.