Charges against 3 other men withdrawn
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Nov. 8, 2018– Five Guatemalans were read charges of possession of unlicensed firearms and unlicensed ammunition, and possession of prohibited firearms and prohibited ammunition, when they appeared before Magistrate Emerson Banner in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court on Monday morning.
Two of the men, Bernardo de Los Angeles Franco Carias and Mario Rodolfo Lopez, who had initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, changed their pleas to guilty and were sentenced this morning to pay some hefty fines which totaled in excess of one hundred thousand dollars.
Magistrate Banner ordered that the two men (one of whom was found with firearms in a hotel, while the other was found with firearms while he was in the company of three other men in the pan of a pickup truck) pay the fines forthwith. The firearm and ammunition charges against the other three men, Gilberto Gomez Jimenez, Marco Vinicio Palencia, and Sergio Wilfredo Morales Godoy, were withdrawn by the court prosecutor.
The five men, however, were also booked on immigration charges for illegal entry and they were fined $1,000 each plus $5 cost of court. The Immigration Department prosecutor obtained a removal order from the court for the men to be deported from Belize after they pay their fines, or serve the time in prison.
Before imposing the stiff fines, Magistrate Banner noted that the men professed to be businessmen, but businessmen don’t cross illegally into another country, the magistrate noted.
Magistrate Banner also noted that the large amount of arms and ammunition with which the men crossed into Belize seemed to suggest that they had been planning to carry out illicit activities. He also noted that when the weapons were found in the hotel, the arms and ammunition were hidden under the mattress.
Magistrate Banner also noted that only last week, a police officer on active duty was killed by a handgun, and in September, police were involved in a shootout with persons who had landed a drug plane.
Magistrate Banner fined Carias a total of $66,045 for 9 different violations of the Firearms Act.
Carias was charged with two counts of having an unlicensed firearm for two 9mm handguns, and two counts of unlicensed ammunition for a number of 9mm rounds. In addition, he was fined for 3 counts of possession of a prohibited magazine and one count each of possession of a prohibited firearm and prohibited ammunition for a 40mm handgun and 40mm ammunition.
Magistrate Banner fined Lopez a total of $35,025, for five different violations of the Firearms Act. Lopez was fined for kept ammunition without a gun license and for being in possession of a prohibited firearm (a 40mm handgun) along with prohibited 40mm ammunition. Lopez also had a 9mm handgun and 9mm ammunition.
If the men fail to pay the fines, they will each have to each serve more than a decade in prison.
On November 1, the hotel rooms of Bernardo de los Angeles Franco Carias, and Sergio Wilfredo Morales Godoy were searched. Nothing was found in Godoy’s room; however, 2 guns were discovered under the mattress in Carias’ room, as well as ammunition. Both were arrested and it was also discovered that they had illegally entered the country.
Carias entered Belize on October 25 through the Jalacte border, without displaying travel documents, while Godoy entered on October 29 along with two others, Jorge Martinez Pinto and Luis Martinez Diaz.
A few days later, on November 2, while conducting a checkpoint in Hattieville, police stopped a gray Dodge Ram pickup truck.
In the pan of the pickup truck were 3 passengers and in the cab were 3 other passengers. The men were seen to be acting suspiciously, so the police searched the vehicle and in the pan they found a bag that contained prohibited firearms and ammunition.
Mario Rodolfo Lopez, Gilberto Gomez Jimenez, and Marco Vinicio Palencia, were in the pan of the truck and Lopez said the bag was his.
The men were arrested and were later handed over to the Immigration Department so that they could be charged for their illegal entry into Belize.
If the men do not pay the immigration fines they were ordered to pay, they will have to serve 6 months in prison, after which they will be sent back to Guatemala.