A businessman, who accused two Cabinet ministers in the former Progressive Liberal Party administration of corruption, was on Monday fined $7,000 for breaching a curfew imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus, and operating a non-essential business.
Jonathan Ash, 35, arrived at court in a heavily-tinted unmarked police cruiser. Although arriving with police, he was not handcuffed or shackled like other curfew violators.
Ash, dressed in blue jeans, a black Star Wars hoodie and a black cap, initially walked with the officers toward the entrance of the South Street Magistrates’ Court Complex. Then, without warning, he sprinted into the building.
Police arrested Ash after a video went viral on social media of him selling alcoholic beverages from the New Man-Made Liquor Store on Faith Avenue on Friday.
The customs broker and trucking company owner pleaded guilty to two breaches of curfew at his arraignment before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis.
He admitted to flouting the curfew rules by failing to remain at home and operating a non-essential business.
The prosecutor, Inspector Lakisia Moss, said that police arrested Ash on April 18, after viewing the video.
Moss said that Ash admitted violating the curfew during his police interview.
He said that it was his second time at the establishment.
His lawyer, Tamara Taylor-Storr, said the married father-of-three asked the magistrate not to impose a custodial sentence.
She said Ash had no previous convictions or pending matters. She asked the court to allow him to keep a clean slate.
According to Taylor-Storr, Ash was an essential worker, as he operated a trucking company. The magistrate, however, did not agree.
Rolle-Davis said that Ash’s “blatant disregard for the law could not go unscathed”.
He fined Ash $2,000 or nine months in prison for failing to remain at home during the curfew.
Ash was fined $5,000 or one year in prison for operating a non-essential business during the curfew.
Ash pulled out a wad of cash from his pocket in court to make a $2,000 partial payment on his fine. His lawyer told the court the remainder will be paid by April 24.
Ash was the prosecution’s star witness at the corruption trial of Minister of Labor Shane Gibson last year. He claimed that he paid Gibson hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes for Gibson to approve payments for Hurricane Matthew cleanup work.
The jury acquitted the former minister of all charges.
Ash has alleged that he paid $120,000 in bribes to Kenred Dorsett. That trial is still pending.
The post Ash fined $7,000 after curfew breach appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/2020/04/21/ash-fined-7000-after-curfew-breach/
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