my relationship with Ernest Bennett

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To those who have questioned my relationship with Ernest Bennett I would like to explain in hopes you will see my limited involvement with him. First let me explain that even though I am licensed commercial pilot my aviation experience was mainly as aircraft broker (selling aircaft) & previusly to meeting Bennett I had worked only one summer as a charter pilot.

Most of my work experience was as funeral director and embalmer and I had worked for 3 years in U.S. Virgin Islands when around 1982 I left Virgin Islands and on my way home stopped off in Dominican Republic to close out a savings account I had opened there on a presious vacation from job in Virgin Islands and it was then I decided to visit Haiti before leaving the Island.

When landing in Haiti I noticed the new general aviation terminal at the other end of the field, walked down there and landed the job working for Bennett.

One day I was out on the tarmack looking into aircraft as I liked to observe the instruments on the panels of aircraft when I was warned by a fellow pilot not be looking into the aircrafts and he didn't say why but I figured it was because drugs were being transported.

I bring up this incident because from that point forward during my time in Haiti I learned not to ask questions and to keep my mouth shut. Bennett took a liking to me and I spend some time with him at his car dealership and actually in his BMW with him driving and the soldier with the machine gun sitting in the right front seat and myself seated in the rear seat. As I think back on my experiences with this man which were limited to the airport and his car dealership and the few meetings we had in the large warehouse I now can say it was at the warehouse where these operations concerning coffee, etc. may have been centered.

But, as pointed out above, I had already learned not to ask questions and to keep to myself so I just went along with what was happening and most everything that happened between myself and Bennett cenered on aviation and his driving me around in his BMW with soldier with the machine gun sitting in the right front seat. I have no doubts now understanding the situation with coffee, etc. because of the visits & meetings at the huge warehouse where we would walk down long hallways with solid walls on both sides of the hallways and hold brief meetings at the rear of the building in a small enclosed room. This warehouse must have been the center of the coffee operations but please trust me I had no knowledge of the operation and can only recall now the warehouse, the long hallways with the solid walls on both sides of the hallways and the meetings in the rear of the inside of the building.

It was after I left Haiti that Bennetts car dealership was hit with riots and Baby Doc was forced to flee and it was only then I hear and read that his downfall was related to his wife (and to Bennett).

While I was there I thought only that I was with a very important man whos daughter was married to the President of the country and everywhere I saw a photo of Baby Doc there was a photo of Bennetts daugher beside him in the photo so I assumed I was in the company of honorable, respectable people.

Please do not associate me with the negative things that went on which I had no knowledge about and had previously been warned at the airport not to be sticking my face and nose into anything such as even looking at the instrucment panels on aircraft at the airport.

Earl, June 29 2009, 11:32 PM

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