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Gambling Arrests in Jamaica
21 nabbed for illegal gambling
OCHO RIOS, St Ann:
A DRIVE by the police and agents of Supreme Ventures Limited against illegal Cash Pot and Drop Pan gambling has led to the arrest of 21 persons in St. Ann and St. Mary, between last Friday and Monday of this week, for various breaches of the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act.
Of those arrested, nine were held in Ocho Rios on Monday and 12 were arrested in raids carried out in sections of St. Mary on Friday and Saturday.
So far, six of the offenders who pleaded guilty to the charges have been slapped with fines totalling over $110,000.
The nine alleged offenders who were arrested on Monday in Ocho Rios were remanded in custody Monday night, after pleading not guilty to the charges when they appeared in the Ocho Rios Resident Magistrate's Court before Her Honour, Mrs. Sarah James.
When they returned to Court Tuesday, defence attorneys Ernest Smith and Linton Gordon successfully applied for bail, which was set at the sum of $70,000 with surety.
A crowd of over 400 gathered at the Ocho Rios Courthouse Tuesday night, closely watched by some 20 armed policemen. The release of the nine accused was greeted with loud cheers and merry-making by the crowd, which disrupted Court proceedings.
The nine accused include popular businessman Alton Fletcher. They were summonded to return to Court on August 16. Fletcher has been charged with using his premises to conduct illegal gambling and illegal bookmaking. While the others have been charged with unlawful gambling and illegal bookmaking.
Meanwhile, in the Port Maria RM Court, on Monday, six persons, all of St. Mary addresses, were fined for both unlawful gambling and illegal book-making after they were arrested last Friday for selling and purchasing illegal Cash Pot tickets.
A police team led by Cons-table Jermaine Moncrieffe and including District Constables Wyatt Williams and Derrick Whitehorne went to Hamilton Mountain and Mango Valley districts in St. Mary on Friday, where the six were held while conducting business.
Shopkeeper Millicent Beck-ford was fined $40,000 or six month imprisonment for using her premises to conduct unlawful gambling and $10,000 or three months for illegal bookmaking.
Sentences are to run consecutively if the fines are not paid.
Shopkeeper Patricia Med-winter was charged $20,000 or three months imprisonment, while Edwin Bennett, Julian Geddes, Glenroy Ennis and Alicia Russell were all fined $10,000 for unlawful gambling.
Six others who were held for unlawful gambling and illegal bookmaking in St. Mary on Saturday, will appear in the Port Maria Resident Magistrate's Court on Thursday.
OCHO RIOS, St Ann:
A DRIVE by the police and agents of Supreme Ventures Limited against illegal Cash Pot and Drop Pan gambling has led to the arrest of 21 persons in St. Ann and St. Mary, between last Friday and Monday of this week, for various breaches of the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act.
Of those arrested, nine were held in Ocho Rios on Monday and 12 were arrested in raids carried out in sections of St. Mary on Friday and Saturday.
So far, six of the offenders who pleaded guilty to the charges have been slapped with fines totalling over $110,000.
The nine alleged offenders who were arrested on Monday in Ocho Rios were remanded in custody Monday night, after pleading not guilty to the charges when they appeared in the Ocho Rios Resident Magistrate's Court before Her Honour, Mrs. Sarah James.
When they returned to Court Tuesday, defence attorneys Ernest Smith and Linton Gordon successfully applied for bail, which was set at the sum of $70,000 with surety.
A crowd of over 400 gathered at the Ocho Rios Courthouse Tuesday night, closely watched by some 20 armed policemen. The release of the nine accused was greeted with loud cheers and merry-making by the crowd, which disrupted Court proceedings.
The nine accused include popular businessman Alton Fletcher. They were summonded to return to Court on August 16. Fletcher has been charged with using his premises to conduct illegal gambling and illegal bookmaking. While the others have been charged with unlawful gambling and illegal bookmaking.
Meanwhile, in the Port Maria RM Court, on Monday, six persons, all of St. Mary addresses, were fined for both unlawful gambling and illegal book-making after they were arrested last Friday for selling and purchasing illegal Cash Pot tickets.
A police team led by Cons-table Jermaine Moncrieffe and including District Constables Wyatt Williams and Derrick Whitehorne went to Hamilton Mountain and Mango Valley districts in St. Mary on Friday, where the six were held while conducting business.
Shopkeeper Millicent Beck-ford was fined $40,000 or six month imprisonment for using her premises to conduct unlawful gambling and $10,000 or three months for illegal bookmaking.
Sentences are to run consecutively if the fines are not paid.
Shopkeeper Patricia Med-winter was charged $20,000 or three months imprisonment, while Edwin Bennett, Julian Geddes, Glenroy Ennis and Alicia Russell were all fined $10,000 for unlawful gambling.
Six others who were held for unlawful gambling and illegal bookmaking in St. Mary on Saturday, will appear in the Port Maria Resident Magistrate's Court on Thursday.
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