Photo: (l to r) Mark August and Avery Bain
by Roy Davis (freelance reporter)
BELIZE CITY, Fri. Nov.10, 2023
Two men, Mark August, 26, and Avery Bain, 22, who pleaded guilty to use of deadly means of harm, were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment today by Justice Ricardo Sandcroft. But they will serve 7 years because Justice Sandcroft subtracted 3 years from their sentence due to the fact that they pleaded guilty and saved the court time.
Before he decided on the sentence, Justice Sandcroft heard pleas for mitigation from the men’s attorney, Oscar Selgado, and two character witnesses, one for August and the other for Bain.
August and Bain were charged with attempted murder, but on the advice of Selgado they pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of two counts of use of deadly means of harm.
The charges arose from an incident that occurred in February, 2019, when August and Bain went to the residence of Calbert “Chinchi” Budd and his brother, Brenton Budd, located on Antelope Street, and fired several shots at them. Fortunately, no one was injured.
The Crown was represented by Crown Counsel Portia Ferguson.