‘I WON’T FIGHT IT’: Al Miller accepts conviction, sentence

“I submit to the judgement of the judge, a ruling authority,” Miller said in a statement issued moments after he was fined Thursday in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court.

“I will not appeal the decision of the court,” he added.

It was widely expected that Miller — who heads the megachurch Fellowship Tabernacle, off Washington Boulevard in Kingston — would appeal the conviction and sentence after Thursday’s proceedings.

Miller said that despite the outcome of the case, he’s still willing to “serve my nation”.

“I remain with an unflinching commitment to serve my nation and work for its transformation, growth and development, ‘to advance the welfare of the whole human race,” he said, citing the National Pledge.

Miller was convicted on July 22 on a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice. He was fined $1M or 12 months’ imprisonment.

He was charged after police officers stopped him on the Mandela Highway with former Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke in his motor vehicle, on June 22, 2010.

Coke was on the run at the time, trying to elude the police. He was extradited to the United States to face drugs and gun-running charges the month after his arrest.

Miller’s defence is that he was transporting Coke to the US Embassy where security officers were waiting for him, in keeping with an agreement with then Commissioner of Police Owen Ellington.