Lucky co-signer gets his repoed pickup back

The next time a friend asks you to co-sign a loan, you may want to think twice. That’s what one man from Sandhill is doing tonight as a Magistrate generously gave him back his vehicle. Manuel Acevedo, a fruit and vegetable vendor, had his pickup confiscated when the friend he signed for, Franciso Gomez, left the country after paying only two hundred dollars toward a five thousand dollar loan from the Belize Enterprise for Sustainable Technology. Today Magistrate Henry Usher gave Acevedo back his vehicle, explaining that it would not make sense to take away his only means of making a living … and repaying the loan. But Acevedo did not get away scot-free as he was ordered to pay one hundred dollars per month beginning March first. If he comes up short, he will spend six weeks in a cell at Hattieville.