Postman fined for tampering with mails

A postman accused of mail tampering was today fined over twelve thousand dollars in Magistrate’s Court. Thirty-one year old Belize City resident Brian Luna today opted to plead guilty to ten of the twelve charges, telling the court “my family is going through a lot of pressure because of this case. I just need some closure.” Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord then fined the postman one thousand, five hundred dollars each for five counts of destroying a postal packet and one thousand dollars each for the five charges of opening postal packets. Luna must pay five hundred dollars by the end of the month or in default serve eighteen months in prison in lieu of each of the fifteen hundred dollar fines. The sentences are to run consecutively, adding up to seven and a half years in jail. In addition, he will also be given a year each in place of every thousand dollar fine, which will run concurrently. And although he was merely fined, Luna did not necessarily get off without jail time. The postman was remanded to Hattieville where he awaits trial for the two remaining counts of stealing out of a postal packet. Luna was arrested last December when police were tipped off that the postman was tampering with the mail. A search revealed he was carrying several opened letters. He told the court that he was too tired and the sun was too hot for him to deliver all the mail assigned to him.