BELIZE CITY, Tues. Oct. 20, 2020– Two recaptured prisoners who had escaped from the Belize Central Prison along with 26 other prisoners who fled from the prison on Monday, October 12, after the orchestration of the country’s biggest jail break, were arraigned on Monday, October 19, at the Belize City Magistrate’s Court, where they appeared unrepresented. They went before Senior Magistrate Tricia Pitts Anderson to each answer for one count of “escape from prison”.

One of the two men is a Guatemalan, Oswaldo Perez, 22, who was caught near Belmopan, and the other is a Belizean, Luis Paiz, who had been convicted for theft.

Perez had been convicted for drug trafficking and had been on parole when he was remanded for harm. When he had appeared in court for that charge, his younger brother, who resides in San Pedro and prefers to remain unidentified, had been present, but due to the COVID regulations, he could not enter the courtroom. That younger brother believes that his brother may have been forced by other prisoners to leave with them. November 3 was Perez’ next court date for the harm charge.

On Tuesday, October 20, fugitive Albert Banner, another of the 28 prison escapees, turned himself into police after 8 days on the run. The 32-year-old had been convicted for theft and was scheduled for release in August of next year. However, since he will probably receive an additional prison sentence for the escape, he will probably have to serve another year in prison.

Another prison escapee, Elroy Henry, 47, was recaptured in the vicinity of Hopkins Village. He was convicted for drug trafficking and was serving a 3-year prison sentence. With Banner’s surrender and Henry’s recapture, 10 fugitives remain on the run, including the two masterminds of the prison break, Carlos Montejo and Elser Oseguera.