Photo: Deandra Parham, charged with card theft
by Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY, Tues. Dec. 27, 2022
Four women who went on a pre-Christmas shopping spree at a number of stores using a stolen debit card appeared on Friday, December 23, in the Magistrate’s Court in Belize City, where they were charged for the offense. The women, who together spent a total of approximately $7,000 on items that reportedly included groceries and alcohol, are Candice Parham, 37; Kecha Miller, 35; Catherina Cadle, 32; and Deandra Parham, 21.
The debit card used by the women belonged to Symone Ogbujil, 29, who reportedly last had her purse in her possession on December 16, but did not notice that it was missing until three days later, on December 19. On that same day (December 19), she filed a report that her purse, which contained her Atlantic Bank debit card and her ID, was missing. Police then began an investigation, during which they found out that, since the reported disappearance of the purse, a number of purchases had been made at several stores with a debit card belonging to Ogbujil. They later identified the four women as the persons who had made those purchases.
Police first apprehended Candice Parham and Catherina Cadle, then on Thursday, December 22, Deandra Parham surrendered herself into police custody.
Last Friday, the four women appeared in court unrepresented and were charged with a single count of card theft. Only one of the four, Deandra Parham pleaded guilty to that charge. According to Parham, who confessed to using the card to purchase a total of $5,165.00 of goods, she had found the debit card. The other three women, however who reportedly used the card to make purchases totaling $1,642.00, pleaded not guilty.
Deandra Parham, who apologized for what she had done, was not given a prison sentence, but was instead fined $2,500 plus a $5 court cost, which she will have to fully pay by March 31, 2023. Otherwise, she will have to serve four months in prison. She was spared a more severe sentence because, according to the magistrate presiding over the case, she was a first offender who seemed sorry for what she had done, and she promptly pleaded guilty, which saved the court time. The three other women were each granted bail of $1,500 and one surety of the same amount. They are scheduled to return to court on February 20, 2023.