Two Venezuelans were given prison time and hefty fines on Friday for immigration-related offences and firearm charges, while a third was told he was “free to go.”

Arolde Marin, 38, Andri Zacarias, 28, and Jose Rosquel, 37, were brought before Magistrate Ayanna Baptiste-DaBreo for sentencing at the Road Town Police Station.

The three visitors were first arrested on Aug. 28 after police allegedly found nearly $60,000 in cash and an unlicensed firearm stashed in a toilet tank, and they have been on remand for about three months.

Their lawyer, Leroy Jones, argued last week that his clients should be shown leniency for not taking the “opportunity to walk away or run away when the prison gates were open” after Hurricane Irma, adding that the current state of the prison facility has made them physically ill and that they each have young families to support.

He also requested that Ms. Baptiste-DaBreo merely give the men fines, which could then be used to repair the damaged Magistrates’ Court building in Johns Hole.

Ms. Baptiste-DaBreo, however, stated that her role is “not to make money, but to impose a sentence.”

“It is not my responsibility to manage the prison,” she added. “I am not the authority that deals with that.”

Sentencing

Mr. Marin was given five years in prison for possession of a firearm and four months for possession of ammunition — which will be served concurrently.

He was also fined $1,000 for overstaying a landing permit, or two months in prison if not paid.

Mr. Rosquel, on the other hand, was given $17,000 in fines and a total 12 months in prison.

For the charge of illegal entry, he was given a $1,000 fine and three-month prison sentence (or an additional two months if the fine is not paid). For failure to declare monies to Customs, he was given a $10,000 fine, or six months in prison if not paid.

Finally, for the charge of engaging in smuggling, he was given a $6,000 fine and twelve months in prison (or an additional six months if the fine is not paid).

His prison sentences will run concurrently and from his date of remand.

Mr. Zacarias, who was charged with overstaying a landing permit, was told that he had sufficiently “served his time” and was released into the custody of Immigration officials.

Nearly $60k seized

Crown Counsel Garcia Kelly told the court in early September how the men first entered the territory and were later found by customs officials and police.

On June 26, he stated, Messrs. Marin and Zacarias arrived on Tortola and were told that they could remain only until July 19. As for Mr. Rosquel, the Crown alleged, there is no record of his entry into the territory at all.

Based on “acting intelligence” about the men’s whereabouts, the Immigration Task Force visited the Omar Hodge Building in Cox Heath on Aug. 28.

Mr. Kelly told the court that a pouch with about $4,000 was found in Mr. Zacarias’s room. Electronics boxes were also seen on the bed and across the dining room.

In another room, more boxes and several “travel bags” were found, the court heard. The Crown alleged that officials asked Mr. Zacarias whose room it was, and he replied: “No one’s.”

But customs officials quickly spotted someone hiding under the bed and ordered him to come out, Mr. Garcia stated. Mr. Rosquel allegedly came out from under the bed when asked.

The team then went into the adjoining bathroom and found roughly $50,000 in the tank of the toilet, the Crown alleged. At that point, police were called.

Finally, officers went into a room on the top level of the apartment and found a few thousand more dollars in cash, Mr. Garcia alleged. The prosecution said a nine-millimetre firearm with seven rounds of ammunition was found in the upstairs toilet tank as well.

The court heard that Marin was allegedly staying in the upstairs room and that his fingerprints were later found to be on the toilet seat.

On Friday, Ms. Baptiste-DaBreo stressed the seriousness of gun and ammunition offences.

“Overstaying is itself a serious offence,” she added. “Because if you’re in a country illegally, this poses a threat when it comes to safety and border issues — …even more so with smuggling charges.”