Man fined $200,000 for travelling under false name
A man has been fined $200,000 or six months in prison after he submitted to authorities and traveled under a fake name.
The verdict was handed down against Kevin Wright on Tuesday when he appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court charged with uttering a forged document.
Prosecutors allege that Wright submitted the name “Leroy Campbell” to officials in Jamaica when he applied for an emergency certificate to allow him to return to the country from overseas. The certificate was granted and Wright arrived in the country under the false name.
Before his case could even be heard though, his cellphone got him in trouble with the Judge when it rang in the quiet court room. After a row with a court officer and a reprimand from sitting Judge Chester Cooper, Wright was kicked out of the courtroom and held in a lock-up until his case was called.
When he finally got the opportunity to speak regarding his charges, Wright said: “In foreign I was in the system under that name and [I used it when] I came back, so that is the problem.”
Wright did not disclose why he had been using the false name while he was overseas.
He subsequently pleaded guilty and was sentenced.
