Accused Jamaican drug gang leader Christopher "Dudus" Coke pleaded guilty in a New York court to racketeering charges more than a year after a manhunt that sparked deadly gun battles.
Coke, 42, was arrested in Jamaica in June last year after a five-week manhunt that began when police and soldiers stormed slums in the country's capital, Kingston, in an attempt to take him into custody.
Seventy-six people were killed over four days of gun battles sparked by the raids.
Coke was a strong supporter of the ruling Jamaica Labour party and wielded powerful influence in the west Kingston slums. Jamaica initially refused to extradite him and the case had strained relations with the United States.
He was extradited to New York in June last year on marijuana, cocaine and firearms trafficking charges and pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to one racketeering conspiracy count and one count of conspiracy to commit assault in aid of racketeering.
Coke, in a blue prison uniform, admitted to running the Presidential Click, a Kingston-based crime group that trafficked guns, cocaine and marijuana between Jamaica and the United States.
"I also ordered the purchase of firearms and the importation of those firearms into Jamaica in furtherance of this conspiracy," Coke told US district judge Robert Patterson.
Coke faces up to 23 years in prison at his sentencing on 8 December.
taken from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/01/christopher-dudus-coke-pleads-guilty
Coke, 42, was arrested in Jamaica in June last year after a five-week manhunt that began when police and soldiers stormed slums in the country's capital, Kingston, in an attempt to take him into custody.
Seventy-six people were killed over four days of gun battles sparked by the raids.
Coke was a strong supporter of the ruling Jamaica Labour party and wielded powerful influence in the west Kingston slums. Jamaica initially refused to extradite him and the case had strained relations with the United States.
He was extradited to New York in June last year on marijuana, cocaine and firearms trafficking charges and pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to one racketeering conspiracy count and one count of conspiracy to commit assault in aid of racketeering.
Coke, in a blue prison uniform, admitted to running the Presidential Click, a Kingston-based crime group that trafficked guns, cocaine and marijuana between Jamaica and the United States.
"I also ordered the purchase of firearms and the importation of those firearms into Jamaica in furtherance of this conspiracy," Coke told US district judge Robert Patterson.
Coke faces up to 23 years in prison at his sentencing on 8 December.
taken from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/01/christopher-dudus-coke-pleads-guilty
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