Well-known JTV reporter Cathy Richards received a two-year suspended sentence last week for knowingly submitting a forged document to the Department of Labour and Workforce Development in 2021, when the agency was requiring extra paperwork for work-permit renewals during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The suspension means she can avoid prison time if she is not convicted of another serious crime over the next two years, but the conviction means she could be deported from the Virgin Islands.
Ms. Richards, who has consistently denied wrongdoing, was tried before a jury and found guilty last July of uttering a forged document, and she was sentenced on Friday in Road Town by High Court Justice Angelica Teelucksingh.
Calculating the sentence
The maximum sentence for the crime is seven years, but Ms. Teelucksingh deducted time after considering Ms. Richards’ offence and submissions from crown prosecutor Tracy Vidale and defence attorney Stephen Daniels.
Determining the offence’s seriousness and consequence level to be medium, the justice calculated a starting point at 40 percent of the seven-year maximum, which was 2.8 years.
To that, she added a year after accepting the crown’s submission that the crime negatively impacted public confidence, but she subtracted 0.8 years after agreeing with the defence that the economic impact was minor.
Then, Ms. Teelucksingh considered the crown’s submission of another alleged aggravating factor: that Ms. Richards worked in the VI without a work permit.
The justice, however, accepted evidence from JTV owner Kelvin Titley that Ms. Richards’ contributions to JTV were volunteer after her conviction last July. Therefore, the crown’s submission did not affect the sentencing calculation.
Mitigating factors
The justice said she also considered Ms. Richards’ good standing in the community, her character, her lack of previous convictions, and the fact that she expressed remorse while still maintaining her innocence.
Additionally, the judge said she believed Ms. Richards could be rehabilitated.
In light of these mitigating factors, Ms. Teelucksingh subtracted another year, leaving the final sentence at two years.
Suspension
Then the justice explained why she had decided to suspend the sentence.
Given the circumstances — such as Ms. Richards’ character, the fact that she is responsible for two children, and her rehabilitation potential — the “appropriate punishment will not be achieved from immediate custodial sentencing,” she said.
The suspended sentence means Ms. Richards won’t serve prison time if she does not commit a criminal offence resulting in a prison sentence during the next two years.
Though the justice sided with Mr. Daniels’ request for a noncustodial sentence, she did not agree with his submission that Ms. Richards’ conviction should not be recorded.
In explaining her refusal, Ms. Teelucksingh said the offence of uttering a forged document “cannot be categorised as trifling — nor are there any extenuating circumstances to justify not recording a conviction.”
Ms. Richards did not comment on the matter, and Mr. Daniels said Tuesday that he had received no instructions from her about a possible appeal.
Deportation?
Though Ms. Richards’ sentence was suspended, the recording of her conviction could affect her permission to reside in the territory.
Under the Immigration and Passport Act, the governor may issue an order to deport a non-belonger convicted of an offence punishable by three or more months in prison.
Ms. Richards has resided in the VI since 2012, and she was employed at JTV from 2016 until her conviction last July, according to court testimony.
Asked about the possibility of deportation, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions directed the Beacon to the Immigration Department. That department and the Governor’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.
July trial
During Ms. Richards’ trial last year, prosecutors accused her of uttering a forged document on June 7, 2021, when she submitted a fake Social Security Board certificate of earnings as part of her work-permit renewal process.
Under a system that has since been discontinued, such certificates from the SSB and National Health Insurance were required for renewal applications during the Covid-19 pandemic beginning in 2020 and continuing into 2021.
Ms. Richards’ colleague Hitesh Yadram, a JTV production assistant who was tried alongside Ms. Richards, was found not guilty of two counts of the same crime.
An all-female jury delivered the unanimous verdicts on July 15 in the High Court following a four-week trial before Ms. Teelucksingh.
The trial hinged largely on whether the defendants knew that documents they submitted to the department were forged.
Ms. Vidale, the crown prosecutor, argued that they did — and that they therefore intended to defraud the agency.
But Mr. Daniels, who represented both defendants, built his defence around their claim that they believed the documents to be genuine.