Tommy Lee Sparta “Broke Down In Tears,” Turns Himself In To Police

Dancehall artiste Tommy Lee Sparta spent last night behind bars at the Freeport Police Station in Montego Bay, St. James.  His lawyer says the entertainer is innocent of any wrongdoing and that he is distraught over the police investigation.

Leroy Russell Junior, better known by his stage name Tommy Lee Sparta was detained last Tuesday night (July 7) during the current state of public emergency (SOE) installed in the parish.

The details were corroborated by his lawyer, Ernest Smith, in an interview with the Jamaica Observer.

“He has been detained. He has been taken into custody for the purpose of interviews with C-TOC [Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigation Branch] and OCID [Organized Crime Investigations Division], and other agencies of the State…They have no charge against him; they want to question him. He has not been told anything of any offence he has committed. He has not been told that he is inciting anything. He is just told that he has influence over a gang by the name of Sparta Gang,” Smith shared.

Confirming that the deejay isn’t part of any notorious gang or the cause for the spike in crime in the parish, Ernest says his client is clean. “My client is not part of any Sparta Gang or any gang for that matter,” he continued.

Just a few days ago, the artiste was asked to make contact with the authorities at the Freeport Police Station in Montego Bay, St. James, alleging he might be connected to the surge in crime and violence in Flanker, St. James.

This is the third time in four years that Tommy Lee has been listed as a person of interest.

Smith declared that the police were wrong when they asked the deejay to relocate “from a safe place”. “What they have done is very wrong…Asking him to come from a safe place — where there’s no state of emergency — to a place where’s there a state of emergency and to use the emergency powers in existence in St James to hold a man, who does not live in St James. He left St James 12 years ago,” Smith told the Jamaica Observer.

“He broke down in tears because he was very emotional that he has left Montego Bay for good and his name is being called,” Smith said.

“He has been concentrating on his career, and what has bothered him the most, now that his career has started to lift again, he said [is] ‘malicious persons want to drag him down’. It really broke his heart…I am confident, based on the instructions that he has given me, that he’s not involved in any form of wrongdoing; he’s not directing any operations of any Sparta or any other gang. Let us see what comes out of these interviews,” he said.

Tommy Lee is known for several hit songs including Blessings, Rich Badness, and Monster.  On July 3, Sparta had denounced gun violence in an Instagram post, noting that violence was not the answer as he made reference to the shooting incident involving fellow artiste Rygin King. King remains in hospital nursing injures from that shooting.

Dancehall artiste Dexta Daps was arrested in early April under an SOE for alleged shootings and gang-activities.  No charges were filed, and his lawyer secured his release three weeks later.