Man had enough weapons “to start a small war”

GREAT BAY – The public prosecutor demanded 4 years of imprisonment with 1 year suspended and 3 years of probation against Reinier ChunBon C. on Wednesday afternoon for weapons, ammunition and marijuana possession. The prosecutor asked acquittal for fencing a stolen car that had been parked on the defendant’s property. The court pronounces its ruling on March 21.

An anonymous report about a stolen car parked on C.’s property at the L.B. Scott Road resulted in a visit from police officers on September 25 of last year. But when the officers searched the office and the home of the defendant, they found six firearms, more than 1,500 rounds of ammunition and 747 grams of marijuana.

C. told the court that he was unaware that the car had been stolen; a friend had asked permission to park it. He said that he had inherited the weapons and that he was planning to turn them in but that he had been scared of looters after Hurricane Irma.

The prosecutor found no proof for fencing the car, but he considered the 32-year old defendant  guilty of weapons, ammo and drugs possession. Considering the number of weapons found, the prosecutor noted, “it could be that this defendant is an arms dealer. He had enough weapons to start a small war.”

The prosecutor demanded 4 years of imprisonment with 1 year suspended and 3 years of probation.

Attorney Shaira Bommel noted that it was chaos on the island after Hurricane Irma. She also noted that the prosecution had obtained the evidence against her client unlawfully.

“There was insufficient reason for searching the office and the house. The argument to do so was that the officers were looking for stolen goods, but the anonymous report was only about the car.”

Bommel said that her client denies that he gave officers permission for the search. She asked the court to declare the prosecution inadmissible or exclude the weapons, ammunition and drugs from evidence.

The attorney said that her client had been distributing “thousands of loafs of bread” from his parents’ bakery after the hurricane and that he had been active helping to clear up hurricane debris in the neighborhood.

She asked the court for a punishment equal to the time C. spent in pretrial detention – 5 months – and to eventually add a conditional sentence to it.