The news coming out of the United States that a Phoenix man, Wentworth Hemmings, 40, who once resided in Belize, was sentenced to 31 years in prison for a hostage standoff in October, 2011, came as a total shock to businessman Carlos Diaz, a neighbor of Kremandala.

According to media reports out of Phoenix, USA, Judge Bruce Cohen sentenced Hemmings to 31 years in prison and lifetime probation with sex-offender terms.

Today, Diaz brought a woodcarving that was made and signed by Hemmings, who, he said, had spent a great deal of time in his Partridge Street yard along with his son, Carl Diaz, 40.

“This was in the early 1980s, just before I entered politics,” Diaz recalled.

Diaz explained that all the boys in the neighborhood who used to hang out in his yard were disciplined young men, and that was part of the condition that made them welcome.

“I don’t know what could have gone wrong with Wentworth,” Diaz reflected, holding the well-made woodcarving in his hand. “Something must have gone terribly wrong why he lost his mind and did what he did.”