Revolving prison doors: freed of 1 charge, remanded for another

Lester Smith

Eugene Tillett

On January thirteenth of this year, Belize Auto Zone Company located at Cemetery Lane was burglarized and items worth two thousand dollars were stolen. Two men were detained: Eugene Tillett and Lester Smith who were charged on January fifteenth. Today Smith, a resident of Mayflower Street, was found guilty of burglary and he got a jail term of five years. Smith, however, claimed he is innocent and said he would appeal his sentence. According to Smith, four months before the burglary he had just completed a three year jail term and he also told the court that he is not a thief and that because he has a police record, finding a job is difficult. But Magistrate Aretha Ford told him that the evidence against him was overwhelming since he was found in possession of two of the stolen items. The charges against Tillett were dismissed but he was further remanded to prison for a previous robbery charge brought by Patrick Garbutt in which Smith was also his partner in crime.