Christopher
The man who inspired the eruption of violence in the Western sections of Kingston a month ago is now on US soil.
A statement from the US Attorney’s Office in Southern New York has confirmed that Christopher 'Dudus' Coke is now in their custody.
He is expected to face the courts on Friday where he will answer to drug and gun running charges.
The charges
According to the Superseding Indictment filed against him in the Manhattan federal court, Coke has been accused of leading the international criminal organization known as the "Shower Posse" since the early 1990s.
The gang is said to have members in Jamaica, the United States and other countries.
The indictment alleges that under Mr. Coke’s direction and under his protection, members of his criminal organization sold marijuana and crack cocaine in New York and elsewhere, and sent the proceeds back to him and his co-conspirators. The document also claims that the Mr. Coke armed the organization with illegally trafficked firearms.
Dudus has been named by the U.S. Department of Justice on the list of Consolidated Priority Organization Targets, which includes the world's most dangerous drug kingpins.
40 year old Coke is formally charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana and conspiracy to illegally traffic in firearms.
Life sentence
If convicted on the narcotics charge, Coke faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, as well as a fine of up to $4 million.
He also faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on the firearms trafficking charge, and a fine of up to $250,000.
Meanwhile, Professor of Law at the University of Miami, David Rowe says Coke made an intelligent decision to surrender to US prosecutors.
He feels the accused man should now sit with his US based attorneys to decide whether or not to fight the charges.
Strike a deal
He said Mr. Coke, who is facing a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment if convicted, could decide to strike a deal with US prosecutors which could see him serving a shorter sentence.
“There are possibilities for him to have that life sentence reduced if he cooperates with the Federal Government. The Federal Government may want to get information from him about how the Shower Posse operates, who the accountants are, who the lawyers are, who the politicians are who are very close to the Shower Posse, what makes the Shower Posse click and only Mr. Coke can provide that,”
“I am sure when they assess the value of his testimony, they will reduce his sentence from mandatory life to a sentence that Mr. Coke will be able to work with,” Mr. Rowe said.
Different protocol
And, US based criminal defence attorney Wayne Golding says the alleged drug kingpin will now get an opportunity to pore over the evidence gathered against him by the US government.
US prosecutors say they have witnesses to prove that Christopher Coke headed the dreaded Shower Posse which is involved in drug trafficking and gun-running.
However, Mr. Golding says Coke will not know his accusers until trial.
“Now the strange thing about federal cases is that you don’t necessarily have to be told who the witnesses are against you until very shortly before trial and you are not allowed to do what is called deposition, which is a chance for you and the defense attorneys to question the witnesses against your client and if you have witnesses you disclose those to the State and they would have a chance to question those people prior to trial,”
“In federal cases you don’t have that, the government doesn’t even have to disclose the nature of the witnesses until a very short time before trial,” Mr. Golding said.
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