Thirty-nine members of the Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries in Montego Bay, St James, were slapped with a collective fine of over $1.1 million when they pleaded guilty to breaches of the Disaster Risk Management Act in the parish court on Wednesday.
The 39 defendants were each fined $30,000 or 20 days’ imprisonment at hard labour.
The congregants were among 41 people arrested by the police, who clamped down on activities at the St James church on Sunday, October 17, after an alarm was raised that two church members were killed during what is believed to have been a ritual.
Two other individuals were also reportedly hurt during the ordeal, and a church member, who allegedly attacked the police, was shot and killed.
Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries and its former leader, Kevin Smith, have been making headlines since the ordeal at the church two Sundays ago.
On Monday, while being transported from St James to Kingston to be formally charged in connection with what transpired at the church, Smith died in a car crash that also claimed the life of Constable Orlando Irons. Two other police officers were injured in the crash.