Late on Thursday in the #2 Magistrate’s Court, five persons accused of keeping a firearm and ammunition without a gun license were released after the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions indicated in court that their charges had been withdrawn.
Therefore, Jamie Young, 23, messenger for Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and resident of Sandhill; Kevin Vacarro, 26, boat captain of Sandhill; Antonette Sanchez, 22, school warden of Ladyville; Atany Middleton, 19, of Belize City; and a minor, 17, of Sandhill, were free to leave; but Errol Gill, 23, of Maxboro area, Sandhill, was further remanded until January 3, 2012, as the DPP’s office will continue the case against him.
Gill was the driver of a silver Infinity car, license plates C-30185, that was stopped by police around 3:25 a.m. on December 10, 2011. Police recovered a black 9mm Luger pistol and magazine containing eight live rounds of ammunition, as well as other rounds of ammunition, from the glove compartment.
At their first appearance in court, a seventh accused, Orlando Reyes, 24, a plumber of Belize City, who was sitting in the front passenger seat next to Gill, pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to two concurrent five-year terms, but Senior Magistrate Sharon Frazer, presiding, had expressed doubts that others in the vehicle, besides Reyes and including Gill, had not known of the firearm.