Elderly Watchman Fined for Unlicensed Ammunition

Seventy-year-old Jose Lopez, a security guard on a farm in Belize District, is lucky to have been spared jail time after being charged with kept unlicensed ammunitions.  On September eighteenth, police responded to a farm near mile twenty-five on the George Price Highway after receiving information that someone was attempted to take his own life.  Despite deny the allegation that he was indeed trying to commit suicide, the elderly man was found in possession of seven, twenty-gauge cartridges, but had only been granted a license for sixteen gauge shotgun.  Earlier today, Lopez appeared before the Chief Magistrate in the presence of attorneys Hubert Elrington and Norman Rodriguez where he was arraigned.  The Chief Magistrate contemplated imposing a custodial sentence, instead of a fine.  That’s when Lopez broke down inside the courtroom, admitting that he had never committed such an offense and had not run afoul of the law before.  Lopez’s attorneys successfully litigated on his behalf and was fined three thousand dollars.  He has been given until the end of November to pay the fine or in default will be sentenced to three years in prison.