Posted By: Scorsese
Religious group sues state to free drug trafficker - 02/23/17 07:58 PM
Religious group sues state to get man accused in drug ring out of prison
Updated: Feb 22, 2017 - 8:36 PM
A religious group is suing the state of Florida on behalf of a man investigators called the ringleader of a marijuana-smuggling organization.
Terence Turbe is now serving a 12-year sentence after pleading no contest to drug trafficking and money-laundering charges in Orange County last year.
But his religious group claims the state had no right to prosecute him.
In 2013, Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation agents hit a warehouse and suspected stash houses in Orange County.
They arrested 50 people in a multimillion dollar Jamaican drug-smuggling ring, including suspected ring leader Mark Reed--at least that's the name he was using then.
While awaiting sentencing, he was arrested again using the name McKoy Smith after drug dogs hit on his car. Deputies found $300,000.
He was eventually prosecuted under the name Terence Turbe.
A group out of Chicago called the Moorish Science Temple of America is suing the state, the governor and court officials on behalf of Turbe, calling him Mckoy Smith El.
“They have no jurisdiction over anything with the Moorish Science Temple of America," said Grand Sheik l. Love el, a leader of the group.
He said the temple is a "body politic" and members are a protected class of people in a religious society not subject to the laws of the country or state of Florida.
"Groups like this have their own court systems, their own laws,” said WFTV legal analyst Belvin Perry.
Perry compared the group to self-proclaimed sovereign citizens, who are known to clog the court system and make similar claims to not fall under U.S. laws.
"Different name, different group, but same basic fundamentals,” said Perry.
It's a comparison the temple insists is inaccurate.
The grand sheik said the group has filed suit in hopes of getting Turbe released.
"Return him to his society, his religious society, which is the Moorish Science Temple of America," Love el said
Updated: Feb 22, 2017 - 8:36 PM
A religious group is suing the state of Florida on behalf of a man investigators called the ringleader of a marijuana-smuggling organization.
Terence Turbe is now serving a 12-year sentence after pleading no contest to drug trafficking and money-laundering charges in Orange County last year.
But his religious group claims the state had no right to prosecute him.
In 2013, Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation agents hit a warehouse and suspected stash houses in Orange County.
They arrested 50 people in a multimillion dollar Jamaican drug-smuggling ring, including suspected ring leader Mark Reed--at least that's the name he was using then.
While awaiting sentencing, he was arrested again using the name McKoy Smith after drug dogs hit on his car. Deputies found $300,000.
He was eventually prosecuted under the name Terence Turbe.
A group out of Chicago called the Moorish Science Temple of America is suing the state, the governor and court officials on behalf of Turbe, calling him Mckoy Smith El.
“They have no jurisdiction over anything with the Moorish Science Temple of America," said Grand Sheik l. Love el, a leader of the group.
He said the temple is a "body politic" and members are a protected class of people in a religious society not subject to the laws of the country or state of Florida.
"Groups like this have their own court systems, their own laws,” said WFTV legal analyst Belvin Perry.
Perry compared the group to self-proclaimed sovereign citizens, who are known to clog the court system and make similar claims to not fall under U.S. laws.
"Different name, different group, but same basic fundamentals,” said Perry.
It's a comparison the temple insists is inaccurate.
The grand sheik said the group has filed suit in hopes of getting Turbe released.
"Return him to his society, his religious society, which is the Moorish Science Temple of America," Love el said
