NEW YORK (CMC):

After spending nearly three years in a United States jail, notorious Guyanese prisoner Shaheed Roger Khan has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and other charges.

Khan, 37, entered the plea when he appeared before Judge Dora Irizarry in a New York court on Monday to answer the charges related to the importation of cocaine into the United States between January 2001 and March 2006, as well as possession of an illegal firearm.

The new twist to the case took many by surprise, since Khan's lawyers have been maintaining his innocence ever since the US unsealed the indictment against him.

Khan, who has earned the reputation of being Guyana's biggest drug lord, has also reportedly confessed to plotting with his lawyer to keep witnesses from testifying against him as part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors that does not require Khan to testify against his former attorney Robert Simels.

The Guyanese prisoner, who was arrested in Suriname in 2006 and extradited to the US to face the charges, is due to return to court for sentencing.