A miner who told the court that he had an illegal gun and ammo in his possession for protection will spend two years behind bars after being hit with concurrent sentences for his admitted crime.
The man, Hazario DeSantos of Princeville Potaro, Mahdia, appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. He was also ordered to spend three years’ in prison for a similar charge he was found guilty of in absentia in 2017.
He admitted that on April 20, 2019 at Garraway Stream, Potaro, he had a .32 pistol along with six matching rounds of ammunition in his possession when he was not a licenced firearm holder.
DeSantos in his explanation to the court stated, “I had the gun and ammunition for my protection.”
Facts presented by Police Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield stated that on the day in question, ranks from the Mahdia Police Outpost went to DeSantos’ residence in relation to a report made against him.
Contact was made with DeSantos and a rank found the loaded firearm in his pants’ waist.
Hence, he was arrested and taken into custody and later charged for the offences.
The court heard that DeSantos was charged in 2017 for a similar offence in the Linden Magistrate’s Court and was placed on bail after denying the allegation.
He, however, failed to show up and his matter was tried in his absence. At the conclusion of the matter, the Magistrate found him guilty and he was sentenced to three years’ in jail in absentia.
The Chief Magistrate, after listening to the prosecutor’s facts, sentenced DeSantos to two years’ imprisonment each on the gun and ammo charge. The sentences are to run concurrently. He will also begin serving the three years’ sentence that was imposed in his absence.
