5 years for firearm

Randy Jones

A Belize City man was convicted in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court after he was found with a nine millimeter pistol loaded with nine rounds of ammunition. This afternoon, in the court room of Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith, an unrepresented Randy Jones, was found guilty of Kept Firearm and Ammunition without a Gun License.   On September eighth, 2012, two police officers, William Sanchez of the Anti Drug Unit and Desmond Ramos, both testified that they saw Jones pull out a nine millimeter pistol and threw it to the ground at the corner of Mopan and Mahogany Streets.  In his defense, Jones only asked the court to look into the fact that there were no finger prints belonging to him on the firearm. He placed himself at the crime scene, but said the gun was not his.  In the trial, the Scenes of Crime Personnel, Jason Reneau, testified that he could not detect a fingerprint due to the material the gun was made of and that the equipment needed to lift the prints is not available in Belize. The Chief Magistrate did not believe Jones’ version of the story and found him guilty. He was sentenced to five years on each count and ordered to serve the concurrently.  This is his first conviction for firearm related offenses.