NEW YORK, N.Y. - A federal judge in Manhattan Friday sentenced Jamaican drug lord, Christopher M. Coke, to 23 years in prison.
Christopher 'Dudus' Coke was one of Jamaica's most dangerous drug lords, who ran an international drug trafficking ring that contained over 200 members. Coke is said to have ruled Tivoli, a small region in Kingston, Jamaica for over 20 years without the interference of any politicians. As the Guardian reported "he put a state within a state." His narcotics organizations called "shower Posse" and "presidential click" were spread throughout Jamaica and parts of the US including New York and Miami.
Such was the power of Dudus that when the US sought his extradition from Jamaican authorities, they were initially refused because of the 43-year Old's influence in the political world. When the government finally agreed to comply with the U.S., a war broke out in Kingston, Jamaica, killing at least 70 people.
Coke had been designated by the US Department of Justice as one of the world's most dangerous drug traffickers, according to the New York Post.
He was finally extradited in May 2010 and then charged in August with drug tracking over 3 tonnes of marijuana and 60 pounds of cocaine, as reported by the Guardian. He pled guilty to racketeering conspiracy charges and leading a drug tracking organization, as reproted by the New York Times.
In a statement Coke told Judge Robert P. Patterson Jr., that he should be given the lowest federal sentencing of 14 months since he had been involved in many charities.
Coke was sentenced to the maximum sentence of 23 years in prison and will deported back to Jamaica at the end of his sentence.
