Two freed of charges after being accused of stealing 100 passports

Simeon Sampson

It was a major scandal coming out of the Immigration Department when in 2006, one hundred machine readable Belizean passports mysteriously went missing. The discovery was made just days after a social event was held at the department on September eighth for Audrey Bennett, a finance officer going on leave, to hand over the reins to Jacqueline Wagner, a first class clerk. The passports are believed to have been stolen during that hour long event while employees were distracted. On October tenth of that year police followed a tip that led them to ninety-five of the passports, which were found in a bag inside a house on Far West Street in San Ignacio Town. At the house at the time, cops found Steven Gentle, but it was alleged that Julian Garcia was the resident. Julian and his uncle Marcus Garcia, who works at the Immigration Department, were then charged with the theft of the passports. After over three years, their case concluded last Friday in the Belmopan court and the two Gracias could not be linked to the crime. Their attorney, Simeon Sampson says the only evidence against them was illegally obtained statements.

Simeon Sampson, Attorney for Marcus & Julian Garcia

“Marcus Garcia was arrested—he was working at the immigration department and he was first one that was arrested—then they arrested Julian Garcia, charging both of them for stealing those ninety-five passports. But up to the end of the investigation, at the close of the trial Friday, there was no evidence as to who actually, physically removed those passports out of that vault so the prosecution left only handling [stolen goods] to be tried. At the close of the case of the prosecution, after calling nine witnesses there was no direct evidence of anybody who stole it but my clients confessed. They gave a confession statement each of them, Marcus and Julian and they incriminated themselves; one said he got it from an African man, one said he got it from somebody else. But our problem was, the prosecution problem was that those statements were obtained by illegal police procedures. They promised Marcus that he would let him go, that he just had to tell about all the scandal in the Immigration Department and everything would be alright. They told him the DPP says let you go if you tell us what’s going on and he confessed; that’s not right. And as far as Julian is concerned, having studied and read Marcus’ statement incriminating Julian, the police confronted Julian, look—Marcus happened to be his uncle—‘look yoh uncle done seh dah you and not only dat, he was also occupying the premises where the passports were found. In a similar trick they told my client Julian, they made all sorts of promise to him that Marcus having told them that he is incriminated and also that the blue bag was found in his room, dehn tell ah bwai yoh have to seh something, yoh betta talk. And I was able to influence the judge that that is pressure to confront one accused with the statement of the other accused and pressure him to confess. The magistrate upheld both those submissions and that was all they had against these boys; there was no evidence to link them to the passports and the magistrate set them free, Mr. Hamilton set them free.”