Jacksonville, Florida – A federal jury has found an unidentified Jamaican man, who was charged as John Doe, guilty of three counts of obstructing his deportation. Doe faces a maximum penalty of four years in prison for each count. His sentencing hearing has been scheduled for May 16, 2022. Doe had been indicted on October 24, 2019.
According to the testimony and evidence presented at trial, Doe was first encountered by immigration authorities in January 1985 in Miami when he attempted to enter the United States from Jamaica by claiming to be a U.S. citizen named Freddie Davis. When authorities determined that he was not a U.S. citizen, he was allowed to voluntarily return to Jamaica. Doe attempted to enter the country again the next month in West Palm Beach, claiming to be a citizen of the Bahamas and using a fraudulent Bahamian passport in the name of Joseph Gordon. This ruse was discovered, and he was deported to Jamaica.
Sometime later, at an unknown place and time, Doe successfully entered the United States illegally and was encountered by immigration authorities in Dallas in September 1988, after serving a prison sentence. Doe said then that his name was Joseph Gordon and at first said that he was a U.S. citizen born in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, but later said that he was a citizen of the Bahamas. An immigration judge subsequently ordered him to be deported to Jamaica, but he was not deported at that time.
In June 2018, after completing a prison sentence in Florida, Doe was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Miami, this time using the name Ricardo Jones, the name under which he was convicted. Because Doe’s true identity could not conclusively be determined, the Jamaican authorities told ICE they needed more information to verify that he was a Jamaican citizen. Over the next several months, ICE and Jamaican authorities attempted to determine Doe’s true identity but were unsuccessful. Doe repeatedly was warned that he could be prosecuted if he continued to obstruct his deportation.
On January 18, 2019, Doe was scheduled for an interview with the Jamaican consulate, but he refused to speak to them. When an ICE officer, asked him his name, he responded “Only God knows my name.” Later that month, Doe was transferred to ICE custody in Baker County. In March 2019, ICE again attempted to obtain a travel document to deport Doe to Jamaica. The Jamaican consulate once again informed ICE that it could not issue a travel document for Doe, because there was no conclusive evidence that Doe was a citizen of Jamaica.
On April 17, June 20, and July 23, 2019, ICE attempted to obtain Doe’s cooperation in identifying him, and Doe refused to cooperate. Doe also claimed that he needed an attorney to advise him.
In addition to the identities discussed above, Doe has also used the names Dave Davis, Patrick Melbourne, Frank Douglas, and Danny Brooks while he has been illegally present in the United States.
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Arnold B. Corsmeier.