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Jawara McIntosh, speaking for the first time in several court appearances, told the judge he wouldn't dare jump bail.
“I have already shown by my track record that I’m not a flight risk,” he told Superior Court Judge Edward A. Jerejian. “And it would be absurd for me to publicly go to Jamaica and not come back.
"This woman," he said, referring to a Daily Voice reporter, "is taking notes right now. I can’t hide.
“I’m a musician. That’s how I feed my family, and the majority of my bookings come from overseas.”
The lack of an extradition treaty with Jamaica made both the bail security company and its underwriter hinky about allowing McIntosh to travel, Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Keith Travers told the judge.
McIntosh previously flew to Jamaica for an event memorializing Peter Tosh, an original member of Bob Marley and the Wailers, while awaiting trial for a Father's Day weekend 2013 bust.
At the time, bail was $200,000. It has since been reduced to $75,000.
The trial has been postponed several times. But on Friday, Oct. 17, Jerejian set a Nov. 2 cutoff for any plea deal.
McIntosh didn’t have a license — and had open bottles of booze on the front seat — when officers stopped his rental car for recklessly cutting off other motorists on Route 17, Mahwah police said.
He and his wife, Carlotta Z. Leslie, “denied any knowledge that the marijuana was in the vehicle,” police said at the time.
The officer who pulled over the 2013 Nissan Maxima said McIntosh appeared under the influence of some type of drug. McIntosh and Leslie also gave conflicting accounts, he said.
The vehicle was searched, with McIntosh’s consent, after other officers arrived: They found two large pieces of luggage in the trunk that reeked of pot, Mahwah Police Chief James Batelli said at the time. READ MORE....
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