The Court of Appeal has delivered sweeping sentence reductions in a series of firearm cases, significantly cutting prison terms for several men — including well-known tattoo and body-piercing artist Oszie Kelvin Russell, widely known as “Mongoose.”

Russell’s original three-and-a-half-year sentence has been reduced to one year and ten months after a successful appeal led by attorneys Wendel Alexander and Andrew Okola.

Speaking to Antigua.news, Alexander said the Chief Magistrate failed to properly apply the totality principle — a key sentencing guideline that ensures penalties are proportionate when multiple offences are involved.

The ruling effectively halves the sentence imposed by Chief Magistrate Ngaio Emanuel, following Russell’s guilty plea to possession of an unlicensed 9mm Glock 80 pistol, ten rounds of ammunition, and a black suppressor.

Ozsie Kelvin ‘Mongoose’ Russell received a reduced sentence from appeal after firearm conviction (photo by Facebook)

The charges stemmed from an early morning police operation at Russell’s Lightfoot residence on April 22, 2025.

Officers executing a search warrant at approximately 6:55 a.m. reported that Russell attempted to discard an object through a bedroom window after they announced their presence. The item was recovered, and a subsequent search uncovered a suppressor on the premises.

Multiple Sentences Reduced
Russell was not the only appellant to benefit from the court’s ruling.
•⁠ ⁠Ricardo Howell, 34, of Bolans, had his firearm and ammunition sentence reduced by one year and two months.
•⁠ ⁠Malique Challenger saw his sentence cut in half — from three years and eight months to one year and ten months.
•⁠ ⁠Jamal Prince had his sentence reduced from over three years to two years and eleven months.
•⁠ ⁠Jeson Cedeno, who had been serving a sentence of more than three years, walked free after the court found he had already exceeded the revised term.

The decisions underscore the Court of Appeal’s intervention in correcting sentencing approaches, particularly in cases involving multiple firearm-related offences, where the application of legal principles such as totality can significantly impact final penalties.