Foreign ministry to review report on Jamaican hospitalised amid reports of New Hampshire prison beating
Published:Monday | October 9, 2023 | 12:07 AMLester Hinds/Gleaner Writer
A Jamaican man living in Brooklyn, New York, has been hospitalised amid reports that he was beaten by guards while serving a 188-month sentence in a New Hampshire prison.
Oneil McKenzie, who was convicted for possession with intent to distribute large quantities of cocaine and marijuana, was recently paid a wellness visit by Jamaica’s Consul General to New York, Alsion Wilson.
Wilson visited McKenzie at the Federal Correctional Institution in Berlin, New Hampshire after his mother appealed to Jamaica’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade on learning that her son was in need of medical attention.
The consul general said that a report on McKenzie’s condition was prepared for submission to the foreign affairs ministry, but that she could not disclose her findings as the ministry has to review the report.
She told The Gleaner, however, that McKenzie is currently in a hospital and not at the prison. The Gleaner also understands that the consul general is awaiting word from Chris Sununu, the governor of New Hampshire, after contact was made with him.
McKenzie was convicted by a jury after a three-day trial in 2018 and the more than 15-year sentence imposed. The judge, Mae A. D’Agostino, also imposed a five-year supervised probation period for McKenzie, which is to kick in after his release from prison.
The court was told at his trial that on October 4, 2013, McKenzie was found in possession of 60 kilograms of cocaine in an apartment in North Greenbush, as well as more than 100 kilograms of marijuana in a storage unit he rented in Rensselaer, New York. The drugs were also allegedly found in the jeep that he was driving at the time of his arrest.
McKenzie, who was 37 years old at the time of his conviction, was ordered to serve his sentence at the state prison, where he has been incarcerated since his conviction.
About a month ago, his mother, Gwendolyn Wilson, told Jamaican media that her son was beaten by guards and was on life support, and appealed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade to take action to have her son removed to a hospital in New York City for treatment.
She alleged that his brain was swollen from the beating.
According to his mother, in the television news clip, her son took issue with how he was being treated by the guards,which led to his being beaten after threatening that he was going to file a report against the guards about his treatment.
She said her son has not been fed, and was without needed medication.
A social media post by McKenzie’s sister indicated that she went “through hell” to be able to see her brother. She said she was denied access to seeing her brother.
His mother, in her television news interview, appealed to the foreign affairs ministry to act to save her son’s life.
EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Oneil McKenzie was incarcerated at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men in Concord, New Hampshire