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Christopher Dudus Coke: Arrives in US
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 4:54PM
Christopher Dudus Coke the "Don" of Tivoli Gardens, Jamaica went before a Manhattan, NY court to plead not guilty to various drugs and illegal gun trafficking charges that could see him spending the rest of his life in prison.
It was almost a year ago, on August 28,2009 that an extradition request was issued and presented to the Jamaican authorities. See the details here.
The government of Jamaica and in particular the Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, delayed granting the request, resulting in strained relations between the U.S. and Jamaica.
In the end, bowing to political pressure, the Prime Minister signed the warrant for the arrest of Christopher Dudus Coke. When the police moved to execute the warrant they met stiff resistance from the Tivoli Gardens community where Dudus was believed to be staying, resulting in the government declaring a State of Emergency. 73 civilian died during this operation. Christopher Dudus Coke went into hiding.
Finally, after a month-long manhunt, Dudus decided to give himself up. He solicited the help of a well-known pastor and while en route to the U.S. embassy was captured in a roadblock on June 22,2010.
Christopher Dudus Coke was remanded in custody by U.S. District Judge Robert Patterson after his not guilty plea in the Manhattan courtroom. He is being represented by a team of lawyers, including Frank Doddato and Russel Newfeld, who plans to seek bail even though prosecutors want to keep him in jail.
Judge Robert Patterson set a new hearing for June 28,2010 at which time a decision will be made on whether to grant bail or not.
