By James T. Brooks
MONROVIA — An explosive judicial investigation has blown open a ring of illicit communications, smuggled cellphones, and a coordinated cover-up among jurors who acquitted former Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah Jr. in one of Liberia’s most high-stakes corruption trials.
The investigation’s findings, placing Juror George Dennis at the center as the alleged ringleader, have cast a dark shadow over the integrity of the verdict, giving state prosecutors concrete, documented grounds to assert the jury was compromised while deliberating the former minister’s fate.
Former Minister Tweah responded with explosive defiance within hours of Tuesday’s court ruling, dismissing the investigative findings as a “kangaroo” maneuver and vowing to completely boycott all future proceedings.
“No judge, no justice and no President can ever change my NOT GUILTY verdict. It is etched in the history of our country,” Tweah posted to social media, warning that Liberian democracy had taken “a gigantic step backwards.”
Tweah announced he has instructed his legal team to file no papers before the Supreme Court, declaring that he will refuse to submit to its authority. “We have left the law and are now in the full realm of politics,” Tweah wrote, signing off as a “FEARLESS Grebo warrior” and declaring, “I remain a free man.”
While Tweah claims political persecution, investigative records detail an intricate web of juror misconduct inside the sequestered quarters, matching sworn testimony against hard phone logs and recorded calls.
At the center of the conspiracy is Juror George Dennis, accused of orchestrating a secret pact of silence among jurors. Dennis instructed the panel to present a unified lie to investigators: that no phones entered the sequestered zone, no calls were placed, and all allegations were fabricated.
The cover-up unraveled spectacularly when Dennis called fellow juror Catherine Quawah to align their stories, unaware that Quawah was secretly recording the entire conversation. When the audio was played in open court, Dennis initially denied involvement before confessing that the voice on the recording was indeed his own.
Quawah and fellow affiant Cynthia Sarplah eventually broke ranks, blowing the whistle on how the operation functioned. In her testimony, Quawah confessed to arranging for her boyfriend to purchase a cellphone and hide it inside a courthouse bathroom, where she retrieved it for use during sequestration.
Other jurors employed equally deceptive tactics to bypass court security. Juror Arnold Vincent claimed his phone was stolen during a home burglary prior to serving, but investigators discovered SIM cards registered under his name active throughout the trial, concluding the burglary was a hoax designed to conceal extra devices. Meanwhile, call records revealed that Juror Johnathan Bundoo placed calls to 23 different outsiders from inside the jury quarters despite denying under oath that he ever possessed a phone.
The pattern of deception extended across the entire panel. Jurors Lucy T. Menyongai and Maximum Dillon similarly swore under oath that no phones were present, yet phone records showed Dillon routinely used devices belonging to Menyongai and Quawah to contact family and other external parties throughout deliberations.
The report concluded that the panel’s actions went far beyond a simple violation of sequestration rules. Panel members smuggled devices, made dozens of external calls during sensitive deliberations, committed perjury under oath, and actively conspired to tamper with a court inquiry.
With the integrity of the original verdict shattered by documented phone records and audio evidence, the courts are now deciding severe legal consequences for the accused jurors as prosecutors weigh next steps to address the compromised trial.
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