Suspended police officer sentenced
The Court of First Instance on June 29, sentenced suspended Police Officer A.R.W.M. (45) to 12 months in jail for not surrendering his service weapon – a Walther PPK and ammunition, after he was suspended from duty.
On March 30, A.R.W.M. was already sentenced to 12 months imprisonment fully suspended and a probation period of 2 years. However, he lodged an objection against the default judgment and was sentenced on June 29, to a fully unconditional jail sentence.
A.R.W.M. was transferred as a Police Officer from Curaçao to St. Maarten in 2004. He brought his service weapon with him to his new post. Once in St. Maarten, he received another service weapon. On July 13, 2011, A.R.W.M. was suspended from duty and had to surrender his service weapon and all other police equipment.
He surrendered everything, except the Walther PPK.
Suspects get 18 years for attempted murder
Suspects R.C.T.A. and R.R.R. were both sentenced by the Joint Court of Justice on June 29, to 18 years in jail for attempted murder, multiple cases of attempted manslaughter (among others two Police Officers), all committed in the Dutch Quarter area, and possession of illegal firearms. One of their victims was paralyzed for life.
The two suspects allegedly drafted a “death list” of persons who they held responsible for the violent death of R.’s girlfriend on March 18, 2014. The two were sentenced in August 2015, by the Court of First Instance to 18 and 16 years of prison, respectively.
The Solicitor General had asked for 25 years in prison for the two suspects. In the Court of First Instance the Prosecutor had asked for 21 years in jail for both suspects.
Crime does not pay
Suspects W.R.H. (40) and R.G.H. (36) have to pay US $42,302 each, or spent 246 days in jail in the event they do not pay, for illegally obtaining a profit of US $84,603.59 after the robbery at Sonesta Great Bay Casino on September 18, 2015.
This was decided by the Court of First Instance on June 29. The Prosecutor submitted an order to recover proceeds of crime for this amount. The prosecution believes that suspects should not financially benefit from the robbery, after all “crime does not pay,” and therefore requested that the robbers repay this amount. The hearing regarding this order took place on May 18.
During the September 18, 2015 robbery US $293,835.28 was stolen, but only US $209,231.69 was retrieved. W.R.H. and R.G.H. were convicted of this robbery on March 16, 2015, to 5 and 4 years in jail, respectively.
Orders to recover proceeds of crime fit within the new police of the Prosecutor’s Office. The Prosecutor’s Office from now on will submit more of such orders.
