By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A PROBATION report was not ready for yesterday’s expected sentencing hearing of a man convicted of a dozen firearms-related charges.

Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt informed Nathan Smith, associate of newly retained-lawyer Murrio Ducille, that the Department of Rehabilitative Services was swamped with requests and needed additional time to produce a report concerning his client, 31-year-old Jamal Gaitor.

As such reports take up to eight weeks to produce, the chief magistrate adjourned the matter to January 7, 2015.

Gaitor was convicted of seven counts of possession of an unlicensed firearm and five counts of possession of ammunition. Drug Enforcement Unit officers acted on a tip that led them to undertake surveillance in bushes opposite a house off Bernard Road.

They observed a man, allegedly the accused, get out of a truck and enter a split-level house. Moments later, he came out with a number of boxes and began putting them on the truck.

The officers approached him and identified themselves, but he ran, discarding his shoes and trousers before escaping into the bushes.

Officers found a work ID and a Royal Bank of Canada card bearing the name “Jamal Gaitor”, which they took into custody with the boxes.

A search of the boxes revealed an Austria glock .45 pistol, a 9mm Taurus pistol, three .38 Taurus revolvers, a HI Point .380 pistol as well as a High Standard .22 revolver. Officers also found more than 500 rounds of ammunition.

The boxes, according to evidence, were brought into the capital through a flight carrier and had been delivered to the home.