A Hattieville couple is in debt to the court in the sum of $20,000 which they accumulated when they appeared in the Belize Magistrate’s Court on a charge of possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply. Shawn Bainton, a 37-year-old construction worker, and Sydney Gordon, a 34-year-old hairdresser, appeared unrepresented before Magistrate Stephanie Gillett. To the charge, Gordon had initially pleaded guilty saying that she used the marijuana to cope with her asthma. The prosecutor, however, indicated that while Gordon pleaded guilty, it would not be automatic that the charge be withdrawn from Bainton. He was found with $1,395 along with drugs which would still be confiscated. Bainton became irate, saying that the funds were not from the sale of drugs but instead monies that his mother had sent for him for the construction of a home. That is when he also pleaded guilty to the charge.
Both pleas were accepted and they were imposed the mandatory fine of $10,000 plus the $5 cost of court, each. That is a total of $20,010 to be paid by June 30, 2020 or in default, three years in prison.
