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Twelve ‘scammers’ convicted in Hanover

Published:Tuesday | June 19, 2018 | 12:00 AMHopeton Bucknor/Gleaner Writer
Sharon Beeput

Western Bureau:

Last week was a very good one for the Hanover police, as 12 persons who were arrested recently under the lottery scam law were convicted in the Hanover Circuit Court.

"We hope this will be a lesson to all the persons who are still involved in this illegal activity and those who are planning to get involved," said Superintendent Sharon Beeput, the commanding officer for Hanover. "We are resolute in our bid to stamp it out in this parish."

Eleven of the 12 were slapped with sentences ranging from a high of five years to a low of 12 months in prison. The 12th person is to be sentenced in the Home Circuit Court in Kingston on July 27.

 

Hardest Hit

 

Hardest hit was Tyson Pearce, who was found guilty on five counts of possession of identity information. He was sentenced to five years in prison on three of the counts, while he got a two-year suspended sentence on the other two.

The full breakdown of the other sentences reads as follow:

- Rickel Frame, $180,000 or two years in prison;

- Paul Parker, $250,000 or five years in prison;

- Sonia Malcolm, $50,000 or 12 months in prison;

- Sackeria Clarke, $150,000 or serve two years;

- Jamari James, $150,000 or serve 12 months;

- Kemar Yates, $80,000 or serve 12 months;

- Shaquille Frame, $60,000 or serve 12 months;

- Jeffrey Hylton, $250,000 or serve three years;

- Kemar Blake, $50,000 or serve 12 months;

- Caledsia Vassell, $150,000 or serve two years;

- Mario Brydson, $200,000 or serve five years.

Anthony Campbell, the 12th person who was convicted, will know his fate when he appears in the Home Circuit Court, in Kingston, on July 27. It is unclear if the same sentencing guidelines used against the others will be used against him.

Hanover, which was one of the safest parishes until some five years ago, is now a hotbed of violence. This is being blamed on the emergence of the lottery scam and the gangs that have come to the fore in the battle to become players in the get-rich-quick scheme.

"We will continue to hunt down these scammers and put them before the court, because that is the way to discourage persons from getting involved," said Beeput. "We are enjoying a very high conviction rate."