By JADE RUSSELL
Tribune Staff Reporter
jrussell@tribunemedia.net
A SUBCONTRACT introduced in the criminal trial of Adrian Gibson and others claims that Elite Maintenance hired Top Notch Builders to paint Blue Hills water tanks for $45,000.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Kelson Colebrooke, of the police financial intelligence unit, testified for the prosecution in the Supreme Court on Thursday during the ongoing trial over Water and Sewerage Corporation contracts awarded while Gibson led the corporation.
Director of Public Prosecutions Cordell Frazier asked ASP Colebrooke whether he was familiar with the name Top Notch and whether he had received documents related to the company during the investigation.
ASP Colebrooke said yes.
DPP Frazier then presented several documents for ASP Colebrooke to read aloud to jurors. Among them was a subcontract agreement dated June 24, 2020, between Elite Maintenance Limited and Top Notch Builders.
The agreement showed that Top Notch Builders was subcontracted to paint Blue Hills water tanks 1 and 2 for $45,000. The scope of work included sandblasting, priming, intermediate painting and painting.
Gibson’s alleged connection to Elite Maintenance has been raised by key witnesses in the trial.
Alexandria Mackey, Gibson’s former fiancée, previously testified that no shares were issued to Gibson, that he never appeared on the company’s register of directors and that he held no corporate position within Elite Maintenance. However, she said this arrangement was intentional and maintained that Gibson was the company’s beneficial owner despite not being formally listed.
In June 2024, Rashae Gibson, Gibson’s cousin, testified that the former Long Island MP owned Elite Maintenance Incorporated.
ASP Colebrooke read the payment schedule, which provided for Top Notch Builders to receive 40 percent for each of the two tanks and a final 20 percent payment upon completion.
He testified that Tanya Dermitte was listed as the contractor on the agreement and Jonathan Gardiner as the subcontractor.
Gardiner was one of 11 people rescued in waters off Florida after their plane crashed on election day – May 12, 2026. He was later arrested by US law enforcement authorities in connection with a federal drug investigation.
Dermitte accepted a plea deal in the criminal case in 2024. She previously claimed she never signed maintenance contracts awarded to Elite Maintenance, although she was listed as a shareholder of the company and her signature appeared on corporate documents.
Dermitte allegedly became a director and shareholder of Elite Maintenance in 2019 after being asked to join by Gibson’s then fiancée, Mackey, whom she met through Mackey’s mother.
In February 2024, Dermitte told jurors that Mackey handled the company’s day-to-day operations, including the execution of contracts, while Dermitte primarily inspected sites where landscaping and maintenance work was being carried out by Elite Maintenance. She also took photographs of sites where work remained incomplete.
Gibson has been on trial since November 2023 alongside former WSC general manager Elwood Donaldson Jr, Joann Knowles, Peaches Farquharson and Jerome Missick over contracts awarded during his tenure at the corporation.
Senior Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson is presiding.
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