Former Tivoli Gardens 'Don,' Dudus Coke Loses Bid to Suppress Wiretap Evidence

By Alicia Cruz
Yahoo News-Associated Content

Christopher 'Dudus' Coke 

A legal battle to toss out damaging wiretap evidence in the trial of Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, has ended with a 14-page ruling by New York Judge Robert Patterson against the once notorious Jamaican drug overlord saying prosecutors can use the wiretaps during Coke's tentatively scheduled September 12 trial.

Steve Rosen, one of Coke's attorneys, filed a motion in June arguing that the
Jamaican police violated the Jamaican Constitution as well as criminal sanctions of the Jamaican intercept law by "acting in concert" with U.S. officials to capture and record Coke without notifying the Jamaican Supreme Court. Rosen added that the taps were illegally acquired by U.S. officials. and would violate Coke's Fifth Amendment Rights. Patterson disagreed.

Coke being extradited under heavy armed guard

The prosecution countered that the evidence obtained was done so legally and by way of a dual agreement between Jamaica and the United States that enabled both to share information.


The wiretaps allegedly feature Coke and his associates discussing the shipment of narcotics between Jamaica and the United States.

Rosen, who told the Jamaican Prime News that he wanted the world to know that Coke would "never become an informant for the U.S. government," said he expects the trial to last three weeks.  Coke served as the informal leader of the  Tivoli Gardens community in Western Kingston and also led the Shower Posse Gang until his June 2010 capture and extradition to New York. He is the son of late prominent drug lord, Lester Lloyd Coke.

Many of the Tivoli Gardens residents saw Coke as a modern day Robin Hood who gave money to the poor, opened community centers and created job opportunities for his fellow Jamaicans. When Coke supporters received word that local police and military troops formed a large-scale operation to take him into custody in May 2010, mayhem ensued.

With word of Coke's impending arrest spreading like wildfire, protesters and Kingston residents, willing to give their lives for the man they grew to revere, armed themselves and a series of shootings and firebombings exploded throughout the city. Jamaican officials declared a state of emergency but within four days, more than 73 people died in clashes with Jamaican security forces.

Coke, nicknamed the "Tivoli Gardens Don", was later apprehended during a routine roadblock while attempting to surrender himself to the United States Embassy in Kingston. He later released a statement saying he surrendered in order to end the wave of violence.  

"I take this decision for I now believe it to be in the best interest of my family, the community of western Kingston and in particular the people of Tivoli Gardens and above all Jamaica."

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara said Coke is charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana and cocaine and conspiracy to illegally traffic in firearms. He faces life in prison if convicted of all the charges. The 42-year-old, who is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, has pleaded not guilty.

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