NEW YORK POST | By BRUCE GOLDING (just a coincidence! NOT the Prime Minister)
Last Updated: 5:09 PM, August 31, 2011
Posted: 5:08 PM, August 31, 2011
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He wasn't wiggy enough to risk dying behind bars.
A violent Jamaican drug lord who got busted while disguised under an Afro wig and fake Gucci cap pleaded guilty today to racketeering charges that could send him to prison for 23 years.
Christopher Coke, 42, struck the plea bargain with Manhattan federal prosecutors just weeks before the scheduled start of a trial at which he would have faced life in prison without parole.
The sudden turnabout came after the judge refused to toss damning telephone wiretaps and prosecutors moved to introduce evidence that Coke committed at least five murders in his home country while heading a drug ring known as the "Shower Posse" and the "Presidential Click."
Court papers say one of the victims was marked for death after stealing "drug proceeds" from Coke, who then administered his own brand of "Scarface"-style justice.
"While the victim was tied down, Coke killed him with a chainsaw," prosecutors Joceyln Strauber and John Zach wrote.
Coke's fearsome reputation prompted residents of the Kingston neighborhood he controlled to repeatedly clash with police after Prime Minister Bruce Golding ordered his arrest and extradition last year.
At least 76 people died during the month-long mayhem, which ended only after Coke was nabbed during a traffic stop, reportedly on his way to surrender.
In court this afternoon, Coke spoke with a lilting accent as he admitted conspiring to ship at least 3,000 kilos of marijuana and 15 kilos of cocaine to the United States between 1999 and June 2010.
He also admitted ordering the 2007 knifing of a Bronx drug dealer who owed money to one of his cronies.
"He got stabbed in his face," Coke said of the unidentified victim.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/jamaican_druglord_christopher_coke_e0W0yrd52zJTNikveT4Q2J#ixzz1We3oy6gU
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