A man who was involved in a brawl in Rancho Dolores, Belize District, and whose entry into Belize remains unverifiable by the Immigration Department, was ordered to pay $1,000 forthwith or spend six months in jail, after which he will be removed from Belize as a prohibited immigrant.

Rolando Ramirez, 43, a Guatemalan national, appeared before Magistrate Dale Cayetano, who imposed the fine and signed the Immigration Department’s removal order after Ramirez pleaded guilty to entering Belize illegally.

In his brief mitigation plea, he told the court that he is asking for forgiveness, because he has a family here, which includes a son who was born in Belize.

At last report, Ramirez had not paid.

On Monday, February 24, Immigration officer Gilroy Guzman received information from the Ladyville Police Station that they had Rolando Ramirez in custody, and that he had no identification documents.

Police had arrested Ramirez in Rancho Dolores after he had been involved in a brawl with another man.

Guzman took Ramirez into custody from the police station in Ladyville, and brought him to the Immigration Department office at the Charles Bartlett Hyde Building on Mahogany Street, where he conducted further interviews.

When Guzman asked him for his documents, Ramirez told him that he did not have any.

According to the Immigration Department’s court record, which Ramirez agreed with after he had entered his guilty plea, checks were made at the western border immigration station and they indicated that they had no record of Ramirez’s entry into Belize.

Ramirez said he was born in Guatemala on September 13, 1970, and had been living in Belize for more than one year.