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Published On: Thu, May 3rd, 2018

Would-be robbers face 1 to 1.5 year in prison for attempted robbery

CourthousePHILIPSBURG – Two men who are charged with an attempted robbery at Prime Distributors on December 8, 2016, are facing prison sentences of one to one-and-a-half year. The Court in First Instance will pronounce its rulings on May 23.

Sheldon Lionel H. is facing the heaviest punishment: 18 months in prison with deduction of the 86 days he spent in pre-trial custody. The demand against this 38-year old defendant is based on making preparations to commit an armed robbery, firearm and marijuana possession and theft from a neighborhood supermarket on September 8, 2017, in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

Co-defendant Ricardo Frederick Alexander Y. is facing a 1-year prison sentence for his alleged involvement in the aborted robbery attempt at Prime Distributors.

Sheldon H. confessed to the police to the possession of a firearm, to the possession off marijuana and to the theft of items from a supermarket days after Hurricane Irma in September of last year.

He told the court that he had the gun because he had been afraid and that the soft drugs were used to treat his girlfriend’s illness.

But both Sheldon H. and Ricardo Y. denied any involvement in what happened on December 8, 2016, near Prime Distributors in Cole Bay. A security guard saw two masked men climb over a wall and move into the direction of the store. A witness who also saw the men, told investigators that one of them carried a gun, the other one a hammer. But when the men spotted the security guard they got cold feet and ran away.

Sheldon H. said that he was nowhere near Prime Distributors that day and that he had been working at a car wash near the roundabout in Cole Bay. Ricardo Y. initially said he was not there either – claiming that he had been painting a house on Well Road – a street that runs right behind the Prime property – but later on he admitted that he was one of the two men recorded on video near the store.

The public prosecutor considered all charges proven, be it that he asked the court to acquit the defendants of attempted robbery and sentence them for preparing to commit a robbery instead. Sheldon H. confessed to the first three charges and the prosecutor found proof for the robbery-charge based on video footage and witness statements.

“There is evidence that two people were walking there and based on what it looked like they had a plan to commit a robbery. What matters is the recognition of the suspects,” the prosecutor said.

Police officers recognized both men from video footage because they had dealt with them before and when their images were put in a line-up for a photo confrontation other witnesses picked them out as well.

After their arrest, both defendants had been vague about their possible alibi. They both said that they had been at work without offering verifiable specifics. “That is the first thing you say when you are innocent,” the prosecutor observed.

However, the prosecutor noted that being present in a certain location does not mean that you are in the process of committing a robbery. “The security guard thought they wanted to commit a robbery and the men ran away. They voluntarily stopped, so there is no proof for the primary charge. But there is proof that they made preparations to commit a robbery.”

The prosecutor demanded 18 months against Sheldon H. and 12 months against 33-year old Ricardo Y.

Attorney Shaira Bommel contested the recognition of her client Sheldon H. by the police officers. “In 2010 the same officers and my client were involved in a similar case and on that occasion my client was acquitted.” She asked the court to acquit her client of the attempted robbery-charge and of the charge that he had made preparations to commit a robbery

Bommel said that her client had taken items from a destroyed neighborhood supermarket “out of pure necessity” in the days after Hurricane Irma. She pointed out that her client had confessed, but she asked an acquittal for the looting. Bommel also asked the court to lower the sentence for firearm and marijuana possession to the length of her client’s pre-trial custody, if need be combined with community service. “He has found a job and if he has to go to prison he is afraid he will lose it.”

Attorney Safira Ibrahim also asked the court to acquit her client Ricardo Y. “There was no beginning of the execution of a robbery and there is insufficient legal and convincing evidence that he made preparations to commit a robbery.”

In a surprise move, the attorney said that her client does not deny that he features in the video footage. In case the court arrives at a conviction, she asked for a punishment equal to the pretrial custody, if need be combined with community service.