Fourth accused in major gun bust freed

A fourth person who was arrested and charged in the gun bust at Kingston Wharf in March 2022 was today freed of illegal gun importation charges.

Jermaine Baker, a 36-year-old chef of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was found not guilty of illegal importation of firearm, illegal importation of ammunition, conspiracy to import firearm and conspiracy to import ammunition.

He now joins three others who were freed on Friday on similar charges after their lawyers made successful no-case submissions in which they argued that the prosecution did not provide any evidence to support the charges against their clients in the Gun Court

The defendants were Godfrey Martin, 51, otherwise called 'Rev', a St Elizabeth businessman, his American girlfriend, Sherilyn McLean, and 32-year-old Fitzroy Johnson, of Atlanta, Georgia.

A third US national, 42-year-old Dervan Brown, a construction worker of Bronx, New York, was also implicated in the matter but was fatally shot last November.

The four were charged following the illegal gun find on March 4, 2022.

Three rifles, 18 handguns, and 2,216 rounds of ammunition were discovered after customs officers detected a suspicious package and summoned the Contraband Enforcement Team.

Martin was arrested on August 7 last year at a popular party in St Ann, while McLean was arrested and charged on September 13.

Johnson was arrested at the Norman Manley International Airport on his arrival in the island on November 3 last year.

Attorneys-at-law Jacqueline Samuels-Brown and Everton Dewar represented Martin, Kemar Robinson represented Johnson and Vincent Wellesley represented McLean.

Attorney-at-law Donahue Martin appeared for Baker.

- Tanesha Mundle

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.