Meanwhile, a man accused of breaking into his sister’s house and stealing electronic equipment has been sentenced to five years behind bars. On February seventeenth Rhonda Robateau reported to police that when she went into her home on Tanoomah Street she found her DVD player, stereo, tape recorder, and other personal items missing. Investigating officers […]
This morning two Belize City teenagers were escorted to Magistrate’s Court, accused of the murder of Russian national Alexei Goloubev. Nineteen year olds Aaron King and Llewellyn Williams were jointly charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder. King and Williams have been remanded to Hattieville Prison until their next court date on March twentieth. […]
For more than three years, the passport case has been slowly weaving its way through Belize’s judicial process. But tonight a decision in the Supreme Court has thrown a spanner in the works for Government prosecutors. Justice Adolph Lucas has ruled that the first defendant in the case, fifty-three year old Hassan El-Sayed, will not […]
A convicted thief already behind bars has had another five years added to his jail time. According to court reports, before the police or victim could testify, thirty-eight year old Donald King decided to plead guilty to burglary in connection with an incident at the home of Bharat Budrani. On July fourth, 2003, police on […]
Two men have been sentenced to five years in jail for their involvement in separate burglaries. Forty-nine year old John Burgess of Tigris Street was found guilty by Magistrate Harry Hulett this morning after testimony revealed that after helping his neighbour, Deborah Broaster, move house, he helped himself to her possessions. Broaster was alerted to […]
Murder charges have been dropped against four men accused in the killing of Celestino Zetina. Steven Zelaya, Daniel Anderson, Andrew Williams and Austin Rowland walked out of court today free men after police prosecutor Edwin Barallos presented a letter to Magistrate Dorothy McKenzie, signed by the D.P.P., withdrawing the charges. Apparently, the D.P.P.’s office was […]
No one was hurt, but the jacking last March of Brad’s store on Vernon Street was very much a heavyweight crime. This morning, however, the nine defendants accused of robbing the popular business establishment were cleared of all charges by Magistrate Margaret McKenzie when the prosecution announced it was not prepared to proceed. Sherwin Locke, […]
Freedom may have been short-lived for the young men accused of jacking Brad’s but in the Supreme Court today another defendant walked unencumbered down the steps, just as if he had used a get out of jail free card.” This morning Javier Saragoza appeared before Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh for what should have been the […]
A Honduran man was not so lucky in his appearance today at Magistrate’s Court. Twenty year old Kevin Alberto Sargento of North Creek Road in Belize City stood before Magistrate Margaret McKenzie where he was charged with carnal knowledge. Prosecutor Sergeant Damien Lino requested that bail be denied based on the fact that Sargento is […]
If there was ever a category for stupid things criminals do, this next case would go to the top of the list. A Belize City man was arrested and charged this week after he tried to pawn off stolen goods … to their rightful owner. According to court reports, last August, an assortment of jewellery […]
A Belize City woman has been found guilty of witness tampering in a rape case. According to police reports, thirty-seven year old Awiona Sarita Reyes appeared in Magistrate’s Court today to answer to a suppression of evidence charge. The victim reported to authorities that Reyes visited her at her home and “insisted” she drop the […]
In other court news, a man sentenced in absentia has been found in Dangriga and is now behind bars. Eighteen year old Emmerson Young was found guilty earlier this week for ripping a chain from a woman’s neck in November 2003. He failed to show up for the trial, but Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord continued […]
He was one of two men arrested for the killing of popular businessman Inez “Blankie” Leal … and today twenty-one year old Jermaine Pascasio was found guilty of murder. The jury of four men and eight women deliberated for just over two hours. They chose to believe the testimony of policeman Ramon Cantun, who on […]
Belize City musician Bobo Youth is singing the jailhouse blues tonight after he was hit with a seven year sentence for burglary. The twenty-four year old, also known as Theodore Parchue, and another man, twenty-two year old Maurice Usher, were arrested and charged after police found them inside the HL’s Burger branch on Freetown Road […]
It’s not unusual to hear of police showing up right after a crime, but it’s a surprise to hear tell of a robbery happening right in front of a cop. According to Detective Samuel Bonilla on September twenty-fifth, he was in plainclothes when he saw a man choking a woman on Barrack Road. Bonilla ran […]
A man and woman were acquitted in the Supreme Court today in connection with a report of carnal knowledge by a female minor. Immediately after a nine-member jury was empanelled to hear the case against James Saunders and Geneva Estrada, Prosecutor Kamar Henry rose before Justice Adolph Lucas this morning and offered no further evidence […]
The case is five years old, but tonight it has brought one of Belize’s most wanted fugitives back into the headlines. In February 2002 Jermaine Fuentes, also known as Jermaine De Paz, was sought by police in connection with two high-profile murders. He was never caught and it is believed he fled the country. Prior […]
A teacher from the Orange Walk district has been acquitted of the rape of a twelve year old girl. In the Supreme Court today, a jury found thirty-five year old Antonio Aragon not guilty of the charges of rape and carnal knowledge of a former student in July 2004. The jury of six women and […]
They claimed that police beat them, burned them, and shocked them with electric wires … and now three men from the Stann Creek district will get a chance to challenge their alleged torturers in the Supreme Court. Frans Faux, Mark Faux and their father John Faux have been given a date of April fourth to […]
Meanwhile, the Chief Magistrate has sentenced a man in absentia in connection with a robbery reported by a Belize City woman. According to Sharlett Dawson, on November seventh, 2003, she was walking on Banak Street when someone came up to her and demanded her chain. She said no, to which her attacker replied “A wah […]
In Belmopan today, the Magistracy set a significant precedent in the prosecution of contraband cases. Court reports from the capital city indicate that Magistrate Henry Usher has found Guatemalan Jose Mario Escobar Porres guilty of “knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of customs duties.” On September nineteenth, Escobar was found on the Bullet Tree Road […]
A Belize City teenager has been arrested, charged, and fined for robbing a Magistrate of the Court of more than six thousand dollars. According to the authorities, last November Magistrate Roberto Ordonez reported that a gold chain and gold bracelet went missing from his home on Raccoon Street. But Ordonez didn’t write off his property, […]
Three men have been sentenced to spend the next seven years in the comforts of Hattieville prison for their involvement in the armed robbery of Peppers Pizza last July. Twenty year old Shandon Avila, twenty-one year old Vallan Avila, eighteen year old Allan Guzman, and a fourteen year old minor were all found guilty by […]
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 […]
There was ruction this afternoon in Belize City Magistrate’s Court as a man charged with immigration violations went freaky during his trial. Thirty-nine year old U.S. citizen Donald Pletts had no means of financially sustaining himself and was charged with being a prohibited immigrant. His behaviour has been erratic and he was cuffed with both […]
