Elephant Man facing $100 penalty for immigration offence

Damion Mitchell, Integration Editor

If dance hall artiste Elephant Man is convicted in a Parish Court for breaches of the Immigration Act, he could be fined a grand penalty $100.

Elephant Man, whose real name is O'Neill Bryan was today charged with the offence.

He is to appear in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court on April 15.

Last week, Elephant Man allegedly failed to declare to an immigration officer that he had travelled to Germany, one of the countries from which Jamaica has restricted travel.

Jamaicans returning home from any restricted countries are subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

Contacted this afternoon, attorney at law Peter Champagne did not comment on Elephant Man’s case.

However, he supported calls for an urgent review of the penalties.

LISTEN: Attorney Peter Champagnie weighs in on $100 fine

Champagnie also wants a review of the Quarantine Act to take into more offences.

In 2017, reputed gangster Tesha Miller was fined $100 for a similar offence.

More than two years later, the maximum fine remains on the books more.

However, last year, it spurred the Government to conduct a review of so-called paltry penalties for breaches of hundreds of laws.

In September lawmakers voted to approve significantly higher fines for offences contained in nearly three dozen laws that fall under the justice ministry.

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