The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL


Tribune Staff Reporter


jrussell@tribunemedia.net

Jurors in the Adrian Gibson corruption trial were told yesterday that the company owned by convicted drug smuggler Jonathan Gardiner was subcontracted to paint the Water and Sewerage Corporation's water tanks for $45,000 in 2020.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Kelson Colebrooke told jurors the agreement linked Elite Maintenance, the company prosecutors allege was beneficially owned by Gibson while he headed the WSC, with Gardiner’s company Top Notch Builders.

ASP Colebrook, of the police financial intelligence unit, was the prosecution witness on the stand as the trial continued in the Supreme Court over contracts awarded during Gibson's tenure at WSC.

Director of Public Prosecutions Cordell Frazier asked ASP Colebrooke whether he was familiar with the name Top Notch and whether documents relating to the company had been recovered during the investigation.

ASP Colebrooke answered in the affirmative.

DPP Frazier then presented several documents for the officer to read to the jury, including a subcontract agreement dated June 24, 2020, between Elite Maintenance Limited and Top Notch Builders.

The agreement showed that Top Notch Builders was subcontracted to paint Blue Hills water tanks one and two for $45,000. The scope of work included sandblasting, priming, intermediate painting and final painting.

The issue of Gibson's alleged connection to Elite Maintenance has been raised repeatedly by key witnesses during the trial.

Alexandria Mackey, Gibson's former fiancée, previously testified that no shares were issued to Gibson, he never appeared on the company's register of directors and held no formal corporate position. However, she said the arrangement was deliberate and maintained that Gibson was the beneficial owner of the company despite not being formally listed.

In June 2024, Gibson's cousin, Rashae Gibson, also testified that the former Long Island MP owned Elite Maintenance Incorporated.

ASP Colebrooke read the payment schedule outlined in the subcontract, which provided for Top Notch Builders to receive 40 percent upon completion of work on each tank and a final 20 percent payment upon completion of the project.

He testified that Tanya Demeritte was listed as the contractor and Jonathan Gardiner as the subcontractor.

Gardiner was among 11 people rescued after a plane crashed in waters off Florida on May 12, and was later arrested by US authorities in connection with a federal drug investigation. Gardiner has previously been jailed for 18 years in the US for drug and money laundering offences.

Demeritte, meanwhile, accepted a plea deal in the criminal case in 2024. She previously testified that she never signed maintenance contracts awarded to Elite Maintenance, despite being listed as a shareholder and having her signature appear on corporate documents.

According to previous testimony, Demeritte became a director and shareholder of Elite Maintenance in 2019 after being approached by Mackey, whom she knew through Mackey's mother.

In February 2024, Demeritte told jurors that Mackey handled the company's day-to-day operations, including the execution of contracts, while she mainly inspected landscaping and maintenance sites and photographed incomplete work.

Gibson has been on trial since November 2023 alongside former WSC general manager Elwood Donaldson Jr, Joann Knowles, Peaches Farquharson and Jerome Missick over contracts awarded during his tenure at the corporation.

Senior Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson is presiding.