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Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have asked a judge to impose a 23-year prison sentence on Christopher M. Coke, who has been described as one of the most powerful and brutal drug lords in Jamaica and whose arrest in 2010 came after a monthlong manhunt that left more than 70 people dead.Mr. Coke, 42, pleaded guilty in August to charges including racketeering conspiracy and is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday in Federal District Court.
In a sentencing memorandum filed late Wednesday, the office of the United States attorney, Preet Bharara, said that the federal advisory sentencing guidelines that apply in the case involving Mr. Coke called for a sentence of slightly less than 22 years to 23 years in prison.
Mr. Bharara’s office wrote in its memorandum to Judge Robert P. Patterson Jr. that Mr. Coke was so powerful in Jamaica, he enjoyed “virtual immunity from the reach of law enforcement” there.
Mr. Bharara’s office said Mr. Coke led a drug trafficking ring from an armed stronghold called Tivoli Gardens in Kingston, moving guns and drugs between Jamaica and the United States, and ordering murders, shootings and beatings.
“Coke’s soldiers often began their service to him as teenagers, drawn from the community and trained by Coke and his lieutenants to guard the streets of Tivoli Gardens with guns, and to engage in acts of violence at Coke’s direction,” two prosecutors, Jocelyn E. Strauber and John T. Zach, wrote.
Mr. Coke, in a seven-page handwritten letter sent to Judge Patterson last September, made his own sentencing request. In the letter, he said he accepted responsibility for his actions and asked the judge to use his “discretion” to sentence him “below the guideline range.”
Among the reasons Mr. Coke gave was that his mother had recently died. “I was told that while she was on her deathbed, she was crying and kept calling my name,” he wrote, adding, “I am humbly asking if you could be lenient on me.”
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