Lottery scamming trial of entertainer Tommy Lee Sparta again stalled
Published:Monday | June 4, 2018 | 2:10 PM
The trial of popular entertainer Tommy Lee Sparta on lottery scamming-related charges was today adjourned for the sixth time.
The latest postponement came after Ernest Smith, the attorney for Tommy Lee Sparta and his co-accused O’Brian Smith, indicated, through another lawyer, that he was engaged in another trial in St Elizabeth.
Justice Chester Stamp, who presided over the case, was not amused.
“The practice direction issued by the former Chief Justice is that if an attorney is double-booked on the day of trial he or she has to send someone to start the trial, not to apply for an adjournment,” Stamp indicated.
“This is unsatisfactory. He was absent on the last occasion and he is absent again today,” the judge continued.
The trial is now set for November 14.
Tommy Lee Sparta, whose real name is Leroy Russell, was first placed before the court in 2016 for breaches of the so-called lottery scamming legislation.
According to prosecutors, the entertainer was arrested at premises in St James after the police, armed with a search warrant, found a number of lead sheets, documents related to an international sweepstakes and other FBI-type documents.
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