Erie News Now has uncovered some alarming, new information about one of the suspects charged with a shootout and drug deal gone bad last week along Erie's bayfront.

It turns out Jermaine Belgrave, 36, of Chicago, has a lengthy criminal history in his home country of Belize, which is in Central America. He’s known to many as a notorious criminal there.

Erie police said Belgrave traveled to Erie with three others from Chicago to sell a kilo of heroin for $80,000; they are calling it an upper-level drug deal. Belgrave faces drugs, weapons and assault charges after Erie police said he fired back at the duo who stole his dope.

Erie News Now did some digging and found more about Belgrave’s alleged criminal past.

“We would say here in Belize that he's been known to the police, and he's reputedly a member of a criminal gang when he was here,” said Rowland Parks, a journalist with the Amandala Newspaper in Belize.

As a longtime journalist, Parks is familiar with Belgrave, reporting on the numerous crimes he has been charged with. We spoke with Parks over the phone on Tuesday.

From armed robberies and shootings, to attempted murder and even murder, Parks said the list of crimes Belgrave allegedly committed is lengthy. He said Belgrave was a member of a well-known Belize gang called the Taylor Alley Gang.

"We have a police unit here that is known as the Gang Suppression Unit, GSU," said Parks. "He's well-known to them."

Erie News Now also spoke with Belize police. They confirm they are familiar with Belgrave and his criminal past. That’s likely in large part because of a 2010 incident when Belgrave was charged with opening fire at two Belize Police officers.

According to published reports, Belize officers identified Belgrave as one of the shooters. They said they came under heavy gunfire and were shot at multiple times. Belgrave testified that it was not him, he was somewhere else, and a jury found him and a co-defendant not guilty.

“In 2010, Belgrave himself was charged with attempted murder of a police officer, that he had allegedly shot," said Parks. "That case fell apart, and he was subsequently acquitted."

Parks covered Belgrave’s murder trial in 2015 for a 2010 homicide case.

Police say Belgrave shot Cleo Robinson in 2010. Robinson died a year later from his injuries. Robinson was able to identify Belgrave as the man who shot him.

“In one of the statements that he had given to police, he identified Jermaine Belgrave as the person who had shot him,” said Parks. “He said he knew it was Belgrave because they were in prison together prior to the shooting."

Despite that, a judge acquitted Belgrave, citing insufficient testimony during the trial.

How did Belgrave beat the attempted murder and murder raps? Parks explains the justice system in Belize is much different than here in the United States.

“[The U.S. uses] a lot of DNA evidence and scientific evidence and so on," said Parks. "Our jurisdiction, we don't necessarily have access to that kind of evidence at the present time, so it has to do with identification. He was acquitted [of murder] based on the suspicion by the judge that the identification evidence that was given was not sufficient."

With the courts often having to rely on witness testimony alone, Parks said it’s is often in not enough to convict.

Erie News Now also reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to get more on Belgrave's immigration status. ICE told us they are looking into it and will get back to Erie News Now.

Belgrave remains in an Erie hospital recovering from a gunshot wound to the chest. He is reportedly in stable condition. He was arraigned on 9 criminal counts, and his bond was set at $500,000.

Another one of the men from Chicago who was shot in the foot - Charles Baizar, 35 - is also believed to be an immigrant from Belize. He faces drug charges.

EARLIER COVERAGE