Man Dodges Heavy Sentence for Throw-Away Gun

Stephen Mejia

Twenty-year-old Stephen Mejia of Antelope Street in Belize City is behind bars after he was sentenced to one year in prison for keeping an unlicensed firearm and ammunition. In September of last year, Mejia was busted with a loaded nine millimeter firearm with nine live rounds of ammunition. According to two officers attached to the strike team, they were on mobile patrol on Dunn Street when they spotted two men on bicycles. When one of the officers approached the men, they rode into a yard and one of the men proceeded to run during which he took out an object that resembled a firearm and threw it across the fence.  When he appeared in court, Mejia, who was unrepresented, denied these allegations. He admitted to being at the scene, but said police didn’t see him throw anything. He maintained his innocence, but was still sentenced to a year in prison. Magistrate Carlon Mendoza told Mejia that he took into consideration his age and that it’s his first conviction for a firearm offense.  Mejia later pleaded guilty to the charge and by doing this he saved the court time and so avoided the mandatory five-year sentence.