Jason Grogg Pays $25,000 for Firearms Charges, Arrested On Way to Barbados
Jason Grogg was released on Tuesday 2nd May after paying $25,000 for the firearms and ammunition charges preferred against him. The same charges against his wife Jennifer and daughter Sarah were dropped by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Sherma Darlymple.
But today, Thursday 4th May, Grogg was arrested by customs officials while trying to board a plane bound for Barbados at the Douglas Charles Airport. He was reportedly on his way to the US Embassy in Barbados before his arrest. He was prevented from boarding the plane and then whisked away for interrogation.
Grogg’s parents claimed that they are on vacation in the country and that their son should be released to his family after meeting the demands of the court. They claim that arresting and bringing customs charges against him is a violation of his constitutional rights since no separate customs charges were preferred against him in the courts.
The Comptroller of Customs, Roderick Deschamps, said it is an active investigation and that he cannot comments on it yet. DPP Darlymple has also refused to speak on the new development. Grogg’s family said they don’t know his whereabout and that his phone lines have gone dead. They want the government to release him so that he can attend to his interests at the American embassy.
Grogg was initially detained at the Dominica State Prison in Stock Farm on allegations of trafficking firearms and ammunitions into Dominica through the Woodbridge Bay Port between September 21-25, 2021. He was charged with unlawfully bringing the following into the country:
- 120 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition
- 17 rounds of universal 20-gauge Winchester ammunition
- 45 rounds of .9mm ammunition
- One 57mm M16 spent shell casing
- Three 20mm M21A1B1 spent shell casing
- Three 20mm projectile
- One 37mm M63 projectile
- One .9mm Glock 19 pistol
- Three .9mm 15-round capacity magazines, and
- Four 30-round capacity 5.56 magazines
Following a guilty plea, Magistrate Michael Laudat imposed a $25,000 fine and ordered that the weapons be seized by the government. The judge said he chose to impose a fine instead of a prison sentence because the defendant was a first-time offender and he did not waste the time of the court by going through a lenghty trial.
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