Guatemalan couple pleads guilty to immigration offences

A Guatemalan couple who were caught with fraudulent Belizean documents has been nabbed following an ongoing investigation by the Belize Immigration Department. It started back in March of this year when another Guatemalan national stepped into the Social Security office in Belize City to apply for a card. Alert officials detected irregularities in his documents, but charges were never levied because he cooperated with the investigation that eventually led Immigration personnel to the couple. Forty-one year old Alfredo Orlando Gonzalez Marcos of Quetzaltenango, at the time of his arrest was working as an X-ray Technician at the K.H.M.H. while his common-law wife, who is believed to be the mastermind behind the scheme, is Marleny Elizabeth Castellanos, from Santa Elena, Petén. The couple has three Belizean born daughters. This afternoon, they were both escorted by Immigration personnel to face charges. Gonzalez was charged with six offences while Castellanos was read a total of four. Both pleaded guilty and Magistrate Dale Cayetano remanded them to the Belize Central Prison until Friday, May sixteenth for sentencing. Gonzalez was charged for Using a Social Security Card, Voters ID, Passport and border permit to which he is not entitled to. He was also charged for using the birth certificate of a deceased Benque Viejo resident for the purpose of obtaining Belizean nationality. Gonzales pleaded guilty to all charges. His common-law wife was charged for similar offences in respect of a Social Security card, Belize Nationality Certificate, Belizean passport and birth certificate of another deceased Benque resident. When she learnt that she would be remanded, Castellanos cried uncontrollably. According to the investigations, Castellanos was pursued and caught at the Belize Western Border on Tuesday in the company of a daughter. Gonzales was picked up at the K.H.M.H. compound.