Jamaica’s most infamous fugitive, who is alleged to have headed a gang network which left a trail of blood across the United States East and West Coasts, will come face to face with his accusers today.
US Attorney for the Southern District of New York
, Preet Bharara, announced that Christopher Coke will be arraigned in a Manhattan, New York, federal court today.
“Drugs and guns were the bread and butter of Coke’s ‘Shower Posse’ … . We look forward to presenting our case to a jury in a Manhattan courtroom and bringing Coke to justice,” Bharara said in a statement posted on his office’s website yesterday.
“We are relieved that Coke’s arrest and transfer to New York was not marked by the violence that had gripped the streets of Jamaica for so many days,” he added.
US Drug Enforcement Administration New York special agent John Gilbride said Coke’s arrest “takes one of the world’s most dangerous narcotics kingpins off the streets.
“This arrest and extradition to face charges are the next steps in ensuring Coke and his Shower Posse drug organisation are brought to justice,” Gilbride said.
Enter plea
Officials in the US Attorney’s Office, which unsealed Coke’s indictment last August, said today’s court appearance before US District Judge Robert Patterson is to allow the accused crime lord to enter a plea and be advised of his rights under US law.
The US Attorney’s Office in New York has accused him of conspiring to distribute marijuana and cocaine and illegally trafficking firearms.
The indictment alleges that since the early 1990s, Coke’s gang, which was linked to the murder of 1,400 people, spanned countries outside North America.
Bharara also moved quickly to announce that Assistant US Attorneys, Jocelyn Strauber and John Zach, will prosecute Coke’s case, which will be handled by the international narcotics-trafficking unit within his office.
The US Attorney’s Office said if convicted on the narcotics charge, the former Tivoli Gardens don faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in addition to fine of up to US$4 million or twice the pecuniary gain from the offence.
He also faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on the firearm-trafficking charge and a fine of up to US$250,000 or twice the pecuniary gain.
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