Jephthah Ford sentencing date to be set today

Well-known medical doctor Jephthah Ford is to return to court today for a sentencing date almost a week after he was found guilty on corruption charges.

Ford was convicted on two counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice following an incident in 2014 in which two Surinamese men were held with US$533,886 or J$55 million during a police operation along Half-Way Tree Road, in St Andrew.

The trial, which began in 2016, featured testimony from police sergeant Franklyn McLaren that he secretly made a recording of Ford offering him millions of dollars to end the investigation against the two men and release the cash.

In announcing her verdict in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court last week, Parish Judge Simone Wolfe Reece said citizens have a right to ensure that justice is done, but there is a proper way to do it.

Ford had claimed he was trying to entrap corrupt cops who had arrested the Surinamese men.

But Wolfe Reece said the court could not tolerate people circumventing the right channels.