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Wednesday, 05 November 2008
The fitness coach for Jamaica's Reggae Boyz football team has found himself in trouble with the law.
Junior McBean who goes by the name Junior Samuels pleaded guilty Wednesday to identity theft and is to be sentenced on November 17.
Mr. McBean was charged on Friday after he submitted forged documents to the immigration department in order to obtain a new passport.
Investigators reported that Mr. McBean submitted his passport and other documents in the name "Junior Samuels" to the Immigration Department.
However, checks by the department revealed that the birth certificate submitted by him in the name Shaun Anthony Samuels was forged.
Mr. McBean who was preparing to travel with the Reggae Boyz to Cayman on Saturday for training for their upcoming world cup match, was arrested on Friday when he went to collect his passport.
In court, his attorney K Churchill Neita argued that more than 20 years ago Mr. McBean's football coach gave him the questionable birth certificate in order to raise his age to get him onto his football team.
Mr. Neita argued further that McBean who lived in the volatile community of Seaview Gardens didn't mean any harm as he was only trying to improve his living standard through football.
The attorney said his client who has enjoyed tremendous success on the local football scene tried to correct the situation in 1999, but was told that he would have gotten in trouble with the law.
The court was told that Mr. McBean has travelled all over the world with the Reggae Boyz on the false passport.
Mr. Neita urged senior magistrate Glen Brown not to send his client to jail.
Sources told RJR News that local immigration officials have since made contact with a gentleman named Junior Samuels whose identity was stolen.
That man lives abroad.
www.radiojamaica.com
The fitness coach for Jamaica's Reggae Boyz football team has found himself in trouble with the law.
Junior McBean who goes by the name Junior Samuels pleaded guilty Wednesday to identity theft and is to be sentenced on November 17.
Mr. McBean was charged on Friday after he submitted forged documents to the immigration department in order to obtain a new passport.
Investigators reported that Mr. McBean submitted his passport and other documents in the name "Junior Samuels" to the Immigration Department.
However, checks by the department revealed that the birth certificate submitted by him in the name Shaun Anthony Samuels was forged.
Mr. McBean who was preparing to travel with the Reggae Boyz to Cayman on Saturday for training for their upcoming world cup match, was arrested on Friday when he went to collect his passport.
In court, his attorney K Churchill Neita argued that more than 20 years ago Mr. McBean's football coach gave him the questionable birth certificate in order to raise his age to get him onto his football team.
Mr. Neita argued further that McBean who lived in the volatile community of Seaview Gardens didn't mean any harm as he was only trying to improve his living standard through football.
The attorney said his client who has enjoyed tremendous success on the local football scene tried to correct the situation in 1999, but was told that he would have gotten in trouble with the law.
The court was told that Mr. McBean has travelled all over the world with the Reggae Boyz on the false passport.
Mr. Neita urged senior magistrate Glen Brown not to send his client to jail.
Sources told RJR News that local immigration officials have since made contact with a gentleman named Junior Samuels whose identity was stolen.
That man lives abroad.
www.radiojamaica.com
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