_{Photo: (l-r) Selvin Linares and Randy Chambers, convicted}

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. June 27, 2024

Two robbers were sentenced to serve time in prison after being convicted of burglarizing the Victor L. Bryant Warehouse on Chetumal Boulevard in the Lake Independence area of Belize City in 2019.

The two men—Randy Chambers and Selvin Linares—were each charged with burglary and keeping a firearm without a gun license.

In February 2019, the duo reportedly burglarized the warehouse and stole a large number of firearms—including high-powered rifles and pistols and several thousand rounds of ammunition.

The stolen weapons and ammunition were reportedly stored at different locations in Belize City; and throughout the week following the burglary, the missing items were slowly recovered, along with evidence that led police to identify Linares and Chambers as the robbers.

The men had already been remanded to prison when they were convicted of the crime. On June 13, 2023, Chambers was found guilty of eight counts of firearm offenses, and of burglarizing Victor L. Bryant; then on July 27, 2023, Linares pleaded guilty to the burglary, but not to the firearm offenses. Nonetheless, he was found guilty of five counts of kept firearm without a gun license.

When they appeared in court this week, Chambers was handed a sentence of 8 years and 6 months for burglary, and 6 years and 6 months for kept firearm without a gun license. Linares got 7 years and 7 months for burglary, and 5 years and three months for kept firearm without a gun license.

Their sentences are to run concurrently.