Fern Whyte, Gleaner Correspondent

MANHATTAN, New York
The defence team for convicted Jamaican crime lord Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke has admitted that it was surprised to learn that the United States prosecution would be calling Jermaine ‘Cowboy’ Cohen as a witness in the evidentiary hearing now underway for the extradited former West Kingston don.

‘Cowboy’, one of Coke’s former lieutenants, has testified that Dudus was a brutal man who tried to kill him.

He also testified that he had intimate knowledge of Coke’s inner circle, describing the convict as worse than his father Lester Lloyd Coke alias Jim Brown.

Jim Brown died in jail in 1992 while awaiting extradition to the United States.

US prosecutors had used Cohen’s affidavit in building the case against Dudus.

But even after pleading guilty to racketeering charges, Dudus’ legal team insisted that the witnesses should be tested in open court if the prosecution was to seek the maximum 23-year sentence.

LISTEN: Cowboy’ tenders explosive evidence against Dudus

Meanwhile, in cross-examining Cohen, Coke’s lawyer Stephen Rosen sought to discredit the witness.

He said that Cohen illegally entered and re-entered the United States under several false names and has been accused of several crimes which means his testimony was not credible.

Cohen has admitted to illegally entering the United States by boat via The Bahamas.

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