Foreign national pleads guilty to illegal entry

A foreign national today pleaded guilty to illegal entry and was fined $7,000 or 30 days in prison in the St Catherine Parish Court.

Twenty-seventy-year-old Adolfo Contoneda Gonzales, through an interpreter, said that he is from Venezuela, and apologised to the court for his crime.

Gonzales said that he had little knowledge about Jamaica and came to the country seeking employment.

On October 9, Gonzales was walking along the Hellshire main road in Portmore, St Catherine when he was stopped and questioned by the police.

He was taken into custody and checks made with the Passport Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) revealed that he did legally land in Jamaica.

He also did not have any identification documents.

He declared that a woman had invited him to Jamaica after convincing him that work was available.

Gonzales was subsequently arrested and charged with illegal entry.

In court today, parish judge Yvette Wenthworth-Miller stated that proper documentation needs to be ascertained regarding Gonzales' nationality and next steps.

Efforts are to be made to get PICA to obtain information from Venezuelan authorities.

The case will be called up on November 2 regarding the man's status.

- Rasbert Turner

Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.