Ten Venezuelan nationals were yesterday fined $30,000 each with the alternative of two weeks’ imprisonment for entering Guyana illegally.
James Pirez, Hernando Florez, Burta Rodriquez, Oscar Monterez, Kennedy Hosae, Venus Mohamed, Kendell Mahamanto, Bond Diaz, Louis Hernandan Alihaz and Jesus Martinez pleaded guilty through their interpreter when they were arraigned before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry in Georgetown yesterday.
The court heard that on January 18, at Charity, Essequibo Coast, the ten defendants entered Guyana by sea and disembarked without the consent of an Immigration officer. Of the ten accused, two also share Guyanese nationality; one of the men and one of the two women.
When asked by the Chief Magistrate if they “accepted the facts as charged,” the interpreter reported to the court that the jointly-charged defendants had responded in the affirmative.
They initially seemed somewhat confused as to how they should have pleaded but appeared to have arrived at a definitive stance after guidance was given by an attorney representing two of them.
Additionally, the magistrate explained to them that if they pleaded guilty they would be ordered to pay a fine and leave the country and that if they pleaded not guilty the court would then have to consider bail and a date for trial. The defendants were given seven days to pay the fine.
