Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, Alleged Jamaican Gang Leader Pleads Not Guilty To Drug Charges

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This topic correspond to the post that can be found at http://www.streetgangs.com/news/062810_ ... coke:Scott Shifrel and Corky Siemaszko (DAILY NEWS)

June 26, 2010



Jamaican gang leader Christopher (Dudus) Coke pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges of running a massive drug ring from a Kingston slum.

"Yes sir, I have," the burly Coke replied in a raspy voice when the judge asked him if he'd read the indictment.

The 41-year-old felon had his hands cuffed behind him and was wearing prison blues during the brief appearance in Manhattan Federal Court. Coke let his court-appointed lawyer do most of the talking for him.

Attorney Frank Doddato, who takes over Coke's defense at his next hearing Monday, said later they aren't looking to cut any deals.

"We aren't conceding the time of day," he said.

Outside, more than a dozen local relatives chanted "He's a Robin Hood! He's a Robin Hood!" That was a reference to what cops say is Coke's reputation for distributing some of his ill-gotten gains to residents of the Tivoli Gardens slum.

"He's a good man," said Tanio Jackson, a cousin from Brooklyn. "A drug dealer? "That's not the man I know. The man I know helps children, he supports people in the community."

The aptly-named Coke asked his countrymen to pray for him before he was extradited from Jamaica on Thursday.

The 5-foot-4 strongman, who faces federal drug trafficking and gun running charges, was wearing a wig when he was captured Tuesday after a bloody, weeks-long manhunt.

His arrest came nearly a month after some 76 people were killed in a four-day gun battle between Jamaican security forces and gunmen loyal to Coke in Tivoli Gardens.

Prosecutors say Coke is the leader of a murderous drug gang known as the Shower Posse, which got its name by showering enemies with bullets - and which shipped drugs and weapons back and forth between Jamaica and New York.

Coke, who faces life in prison if convicted, was indicted last August.