Former senator fined $400,000 for breach of anti-corruption laws
Published:Saturday | April 5, 2025 | 12:09 AMLivern Barrett/Senior Staff Reporter
The fine imposed on Leslie Campbell, the former junior foreign minister, for breaches of Jamaica’s anti-corruption laws took into account his plea in mitigation that the offences were “procedural in nature”, his attorney has asserted.
Campbell, who is also a former senator, was sentenced yesterday to a fine of $400,000 or six months in prison if the fine was not paid.
The fine was paid shortly after the sentence was imposed, his attorney Matthew Hyatt confirmed to The Gleaner.
Campbell was convicted last December for breaches of the Parliament (Integrity of Members) and the Integrity Commission (IC) Act for failing to provide information requested by the commission about his assets and income.
The Integrity Commission is the entity that enforces Jamaica’s anti-corruption law.
The former senator contended that the commission misplaced the information that was sent.
But in handing down the sentence yesterday, Justice Paula Blake Powell also ordered Campbell to comply with the request within 90 days.
Hyatt said his client respects the decision of the court and would not appeal it.
He said the judge took into consideration, as part of his plea in mitigation, the fact that the ex-lawmaker has no previous convictions and that the breaches were procedural in nature.
“He had always filed his statutory declarations, he was frank, open and honest in his declarations,” said Hyatt.