NCU lecturer to face kidnapping, sexual battery charges in US
A Jamaican university lecturer is to face multiple charges in the United States after waiving his right to an extradition hearing when he appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Tuesday.
Russell McLean, a lecturer at the Northern Caribbean University (NCU) in Mandeville, is to be extradited to the US on kidnapping, armed burglary and armed sexual battery charges.
No further information in the matter was immediately available.
McLean has been a lecturer in the College of Humanities, Behavioural and Social Sciences at the private Seventh-Day Adventist-run university, formerly West Indies College, for 18-and-a-half years.
Five other Jamaican men in three separate cases waived their rights to extradition hearings in court on Tuesday, and are to also answer to alleged crimes committed in the US.
The other men to be extradited are Damion Clarke, who is to answer charges relating to drug trafficking and firearms; Damon Oakley, accused of mail and wire fraud; and St Devon Cover, Benjamin Afflick and Dennis Raymond Rowe, who are to face money laundering charges.
The necessary documents were signed by the accused men in the presence of Senior Parish Judge, Lori-Ann Cole-Montague, and they were advised that preparations will be made to have them sent to the US.
As each man was brought before the court, they were asked if they were aware of the allegations that were brought against them, and the first four answered in the affirmative. However, Cover and Rowe indicated that they are “confused” about the allegations.
Crown Counsel Yannick Forbes spared no time in explaining the circumstances surrounding their extradition request by the US Government.
He advised the men that an investigation revealed that between 2017 and 2020, both men “on separate days, transported monies between Jamaica and the United States in furtherance of an international narcotics ring.”