Sherwin Santos Pleads Guilty to Armed Robbery of New Fortune Restaurant

Sherwin Santos

Belize City resident Sherwin Santos, accused jointly with a fifteen-year-old minor of robbing New Fortune Restaurant in July of last year, is tonight serving a three-year jail sentence. The term was imposed on him when he changed his not guilty plea to guilty before the Chief Magistrate Sharon Fraser. The duo was charged with the July fifth, 2018 robbery of the restaurant where businessman Xin Hui Zhang was held at gun point and seven hundred dollars were stolen.  While he escaped the minimum sentence of five years, he could have been sent to jail for a maximum of ten years, but Chief Magistrate Fraser took into consideration the fact that he appears to be a promising youth who wants to enroll in school to get an education. She also told him that she could not give him a suspended sentence like his co-accused since in law, the Juvenile Act allows for a suspended sentence upon the minor. The robbery was captured by surveillance footage in the area and a police officer who knew Santos well identified him as one of the two culprits who entered the restaurant. The minor was identified by another police officer who had viewed the surveillance camera back in 2018.