Jamaican drug lord, Christopher “Dudus” Coke, who was the centerpiece of a drug war in Kingston that last over a year, killing a number of Jamaicans, pleaded guilty in a Manhattan courtroom.

Coke was captured on his way to turn himself in to the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica, and is facing drug and trafficking charges.

Indicted by the U.S. in 2009, Coke became the target of a massive Jamaican police operation in May 2010, sparking a bloody street battle between local security forces and Coke’s gun-toting supporters and mercenaries in the west Kingston neighborhood of Tivoli Gardens.

After a month of violent struggle, it was a popular local preacher that managed to arrange Coke’s peaceful surrender to authorities.

At the time of his surrender, Coke said that he chose to accept extradition rather than watch the bloodshed in Jamaica continue. More than 70 people had already died in the violence.

Coke is scheduled to be sentenced on December 8th, and could face up to 20 years behind bars and deportation back to Jamaica.