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Jamaican man in Florida found guilty of obstructing his deportation

A federal jury in Florida has found an unidentified Jamaican man, who was charged as John Doe, guilty of three counts of obstructing his deportation. 
 
The Jamaican, who used various aliases, faces a maximum penalty of four years in prison for each count. 
 
His sentencing hearing has been scheduled for May 16. 
 
According to the testimony and evidence presented at trial, the Jamaican was first encountered by immigration authorities in January 1985 in Miami when he attempted to enter the US from Jamaica by claiming to be an American citizen named Freddie Davis. 
 
When authorities determined that he was not a U.S. citizen, he was allowed to voluntarily return to Jamaica. 
 
A news release from the Department of Justice says John Doe attempted to enter the US again the following month in West Palm Beach, claiming to be a citizen of the Bahamas and using a fraudulent Bahamian passport in the name of Joseph Gordon. 
 
This ruse was discovered, and he was deported to Jamaica.
 
Sometime later, the Jamaican successfully entered the United States illegally and was encountered by immigration authorities in Dallas in September 1988, after serving a prison sentence. 
 
At that time, he said his name was Joseph Gordon, and at first claimed he was a U.S. citizen born in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, but later said he was a citizen of the Bahamas. 
 
An immigration judge subsequently ordered him to be deported to Jamaica, but he was not repatriated.
 
In June 2018, after completing a prison sentence in Florida, John Doe was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Miami, this time using the name Ricardo Jones, the name under which he was convicted. 
 
Because Doe's true identity could not conclusively be determined, the Jamaican authorities told ICE they needed more information to verify that he was a Jamaican citizen. 
 
Over the next several months, ICE and Jamaican authorities attempted to determine John Doe's true identity but were unsuccessful. 
 
On January 18, 2019, he was scheduled for an interview with the Jamaican consulate, but refused to speak. 
 
When an ICE officer, asked him his name, he responded "Only God knows my name." 
 
Later that month, the man was transferred to ICE custody. 
 
On three occasions, ICE attempted to obtain his cooperation in identifying him but he refused. 
                   


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