Dancehall artiste Laden is going away for a while.
Laden has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition. He will only serve four years as the sentences will run concurrently. He received four years for the illegal possession of firearm charge and 18 months for the illegal possession of ammunition charge. He received his sentence at St. Elizabeth Circuit Court in Black River earlier today, December 16. The sentencing came following the hearing of his character references given by colleague Christopher Martin and Councillor for the Junction Division, Cetany Holness, yesterday.
Laden, whose real name is O’Keefe Aarons, pleaded guilty to illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. Before the sentencing, one of his lawyers, Thomas Levene, told the Jamaica Observer that he was ready for the matter to come to an end. He said, “We return for further submissions to be made in regard to Mr Aarons…. [Today] we expect that this matter will be concluded based on all that has taken place and we trust that the judge will make an informed and learned decision in regard to this matter.”
His sentence was handed down by High Court Judge Justice Evan Brown. Laden was arrested after disobeying police instructions to pull over the black Mercedes Benz that he was driving on October 28. During a chase, a bag was thrown through the sunroof of the vehicle, which police said contained a firearm. The two other occupants, 21-year-old Saaion Ebanks, and his 16-year-old brother were eventually acquitted of the charges.
Laden was in the news last week after he was fined $2,000 for failing to obey the police following a breach of curfew.
