ALMOST ONE month after he was extradited to the United States to answer drug and gun charges, alleged crime boss Christopher 'Dudus' Coke has still not settled on legal representation.
Coke, who was represented by two of Jamaica's top criminal lawyers when he appeared in court locally, is still being assisted by a state-appointed attorney in the US as he goes over scores of damning statements to be used against him during the trial.
These include the statements of nine unnamed co-conspirators, identified in the court documents as cooperating witnesses one to nine ('CW-1' to 'CW-9').
Alleged co-conspirator, CW-1, claims in his affidavit that he is a Jamaican living in New York, who has already pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana and conspiracy to engage in firearms trafficking.
One witness' claims
CW-1 claims that from about 2004 he was involved in distributing marijuana in New York and worked with Dudus for much of that time.
According to CW-1, he would provide weed to a friend of Dudus, who would sell it and send the profit to the Tivoli Gardens strongman.
The informant also claims that he purchased four firearms and shipped them to Coke in 2007.
He said some of his calls to Dudus were recorded by federal agents, including an October 2007 discussion when Coke said he heard that an indictment would be issued for them.
Coke, who is being held in a maximum-security prison in New York, has also been presented with an affidavit from Cooperating Witness Two, another convicted felon.
CW-2 said while he has never talked directly with Coke, he worked with a supplier who told him that the cocaine they were distributing was from Coke and trafficked into the US by female smugglers.
CW-2 also claimed that the supplier told him that he sent money and guns back to Coke in Tivoli Gardens.
Other documents are to be presented to Coke over the next four weeks, but it is still not clear which lawyer will be at his side when he returns to court on September 7.
On Tuesday, checks with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York showed no filing from a lawyer to represent the former west Kingston enforcer.
This means that Coke, who the US accuses of handling billions of dollars through a drug-trafficking and gunrunning ring, might return to court with the state-appointed attorney Russell Neufeld.
Not paid with 'dirty' money
A trio of top-level criminal lawyers, Frank Doddato, Steven Rosen and Nicolas Matassini, had indicated that they would be representing Coke, but that cannot be finalised until it is proven that the money being used to pay them was not sourced illegally.
On Tuesday, Doddato's office said there was no development in the case. Attempts to contact the other lawyers were unsuccessful.
Under American law, any money being paid for attorney fees by Coke must meet the strict requirements handed down by a federal judge in the case of the US v Nebbia.
A legal source in the US told The Gleaner on Tuesday that the penalty for an improper Nebbia certification is an indictment for money laundering.
