BELIZE CITY, Tues. Aug. 28, 2018– Justin Lemoth, 29, who was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter by Justice Adolph Lucas on July 20, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment today.

But Lemoth will only serve 10 years and 7 months because Justice Lucas subtracted 4 years and 5 months from his sentence, which was the time he spent as a prisoner on remand.

Lemoth was convicted for causing the death of Richard Waight, Jr., 17, who was fatally stabbed in his chest with a knife in April 2014 during an altercation on a basketball court in Hattieville.

Before he decided on the sentence, Justice Lucas heard pleas for mitigation from Lemoth and his attorney, Leslie Hamilton, who both expressed remorse to Waight’s family.

Justice Lucas also listened to an assessment report on the impact that the death of Richard Waight, Jr. had on the family, which was provided by Richard Waight, Sr., the father of the deceased, and was read by Crown Counsel Shanice Lovell.

 Justice Lucas said that the aggravating factors were that the deceased was a young person and the incident could have been avoided.

He also said that Lemoth stabbed an inmate while he was in prison and it seems that he has a propensity for violence.

Justice Lucas also said that the mitigating factors were that Lemoth expressed remorse for what he did and that shortly after the incident, he gave a confession statement to the police that was not challenged by the defense, which, if it was, would have wasted the court’s time with a voire dire.

He said the aggravating factors slightly outweighed the mitigating factors and that Lemoth’s sentence starts from today.