A Jamaican murderer who was previously barred from the United States is again facing deportation.
A federal judge in Buffalo, New York yesterday set the stage for Horace Tajah’s deportation to Jamaica by sentencing him to time served and three years probation.
He has been in custody since his arrest four years ago.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Lamarque said the Jamaican did not go to the US for a better life.
Prosecutors pointed to the drug, gun and murder convictions on his record to suggest that his motivation in trying to re-enter the United States was to commit more violent crimes.
Convicted in a New York City gang case in 2010, Tajah was sentenced to prison and eventually deported to Jamaica and barred from the US for life.
Just months after his removal, he tried to re-enter the United States from Canada by crossing the Peace Bridge on a commercial tour bus.
He was caught, and so was his wife, who later admitted to lying about her husband’s identity during the illegal border crossing.
Tajah’s prosecution attracted attention because of his previous criminal record in New York City, where he was convicted on multiple federal charges in 2010.
The charges included drug dealing, weapons possession and conspiracy to commit murder.
Wife in trouble
Tajah’s wife, LaTanya N. Notice, who is also from Jamaica, pleaded guilty to making a false statement and will face a recommended sentence of up to six months in prison when she is sentenced.
According to the Buffalo News newspaper, she also faces possible deportation.
WIFE’S CASE IN APRIL
Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that LaTanya Notice, 42, of Mt. Vernon, NY, pleaded guilty, before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo, to the crime of making a false statement to a federal officer. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Lamarque, who is handling the case, stated that on January 23, 2013, the defendant, a Jamaican citizen with legal permanent resident status in the United States, attempted to cross into the United States from Canada at the Peace Bridge with a man in possession of a valid United States Passport. The defendant claimed that her traveling companion was her brother and they were returning to their home in New York City. Standard database checks revealed that the man was in fact Horace Tajah, an aggravated felon from Jamaica. In 2010, Tajah was convicted in the Southern District of New York of multiple offenses including drug, gun, and conspiracy to commit murder charges. Tajah was sentenced to 72 months in prison, and after serving his sentence, he was deported to Jamaica in 2012 and banned from the United States for life.
Ms. Notice admitted to agents that Tajah was not her brother, but her husband, that he did not own the United States Passport he presented to officials, and that she was aware that he was deported to Jamaica in 2012 and barred from entering the United States for life.
The plea is the result of an investigation by United States Customs and Border Protection, under the direction of Director of Field Operations Rose Brophy.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 27, 2017, at 9:30 am before Judge Vilardo.
D DUTTY man sell out d woman !
What a punk !
– he was doing down, so he was taking her with him too,
– typical Jamaican ” Gangster “
Literally going down with her man…hmmmm.