WESTERN BUREAU

A deportee who attempted to leave Jamaica using a fraudulent Canadian visa was remanded in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday and charged with uttering a forged document.

John Clarke, a construction worker of Chester Castle in Hanover, pleaded guilty.

He was remanded as the court awaits a copy of his police record. He will be sentenced October 13.

Upfront

Although his attorney, Adrian Dayes, said that he had been absolutely candid with the court about his client's reasons for using a forged document, Resident Magistrate Winsome Henry said she needed to be sure about Clarke's antecedents before handing down sentence, as in recent weeks, persons had lied to the court about past convictions.

Dayes told the court his client was deported from the United States after spending seven years in prison for a drug offence. He said Clarke's reason for getting into Canada using the visa was not for criminal intentions, but to work.

Legitimate claim

The attorney told the court that Clarke bought the visa for $300,000 but thought he was buying something legitimate.

The facts are that on October 2, the investigating officer was on duty at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay when he received information pertaining to Clarke's travel documents. He accosted Clarke, who was checking in on an Air Canada flight to Toronto.

The officer subsequently contacted the Canadian High Commission about a Canadian visa that was endorsed in his Jamaican passport, and it was revealed that that office had not issued the document.