Haniff Peters, one of the persons accused of stealing more than $1 million from the Woodlands Hospital, was yesterday sentenced to two years in jail, while his accomplice, Susan Daniels, was handed a two-year suspended sentence after the court found them both guilty of the offence.
Daniels and Peters were employed as a cashier/receptionist and a security guard, respectively, at the hospital at the time of the crime. The duo was accused of stealing $1,042,195, which was the property of the hospital, on August 31st, 2017.
After listening to a probation report yesterday, Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty told Peters that since he adamantly denied involvement in the robbery, he will serve a two-year prison sentence. She cited a number of reasons. She said that during the trial, one of the witnesses testified seeing Peters running down the stairs twice with a bag in his possession. Further, she said, he lied about losing his phone before the robbery as phone records clearly showed that a number of calls were made to the hospital before and after the robbery. In addition, she said that after admitting to her involvement in the robbery, Daniels said that Peters was the person who indicated to her the means by which she coulld overcome her financial problems.
The magistrate told Daniels, a mother of three, that even though at the previous court hearing, she begged the court for mercy and admitted on her own accord that she was involved in the robbery, throughout the entire trial she denied the allegation. The magistrate told Daniels that she would have to face the consequences as she could have easily pleaded guilty to the charge at any time. She proceeded to inform the woman that she will serve a two-year suspended sentence. The magistrate went on to say that she took note of the fact that Daniels was employed twice by the hospital. “You betrayed a position of trust,” she said.
The magistrate also said that based on the evidence, she took note of the fact that Daniels always sought employment, which is one of the reasons she handed down the suspended sentence.
When asked if she had intentions of paying back the institution, an emotional Daniels said, “If possible, I can continue my work and pay them back.”
Daniels was also charged with giving false information to the police, whom she told that she was robbed on August 31st, 2017, causing them to conduct an investigation. The act was allegedly committed on September 1st, 2017. The outcome of that matter is unknown at this time.
