THE TWO female jurors who pleaded guilty in December last year to soliciting a bribe of $100,000 from a woman, to free her son of a murder charge, have been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment each at hard labour.

Resident Magistrate Dale Palmer sentenced the women yesterday for attempting to pervert the course of justice.

They are 45-year-old domestic helper Natalie Sill, of May Pen, Clarendon, and 23-year-old model, Verona Samuels, of Freetown, Clarendon.

The women were sentenced in the May Pen Resident Magistrate's Court following an impassioned plea for leniency from their lawyers, Hopeton Clarke and Garfield Haisley.

Accused mother approached

The facts of the case were that the two women were among a 12-member jury trying a murder case in the Clarendon Circuit Court in November last year, when they told the accused's mother to pay them $100,000 to free Rohan Johnson, her son.

The mother reported the matter to court officials who reported the matter to the police. The two jurors were held in a sting operation as they collected marked money from the accused's mother.

The trial had to be stopped and the murder case was transferred to Kingston.

Supreme Court judge Bryan Sykes, who was presiding at the trial, cited the women for contempt of court and they are to return to the Clarendon Circuit Court on March 10.

barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com