Eighteen year old Shane Godoy, a resident of Aloe Vera Street in Belize City, charged with kept firearm and ammunition without a gun license, was sentenced to five years for each count today by Senior Magistrate Sharon Fraser after he was found guilty of the charges. Godoy’s sentences are to run concurrently. Godoy was busted with the firearm and ammunition around 9:20 p.m. on July 19, 2012. Two police officers testified that while they were on mobile patrol on Peter Seco Street, they saw Godoy, who was riding ahead of them, increase his speed on his bicycle. They said that Godoy turned around and they saw him throw a black object resembling a firearm into a yard with a green concrete house and red fence. They said they drove up beside Godoy and one of them, police constable Harold Grinage, pointed his firearm at Godoy and ordered him to stop. When Godoy stopped they took him back to the yard where they saw him throw the object and when they retrieved it , it was a nine millimetre pistol with five rounds of ammunition in its magazine. Godoy gave a statement from the dock in which he said that he went to a shop on Peter Seco Street and when he arrived at the shop it was closed. He said that when he was returning the police vehicle drove up beside him and he was told to stop and when he did he was taken to a yard where he had seen two persons come out of. Godoy did not challenge the testimony of PC Grinage who said he saw Godoy throw the firearm into the yard.
View the full article