Rosario Dos Santos, who was convicted and sentenced in his absence two years ago for the unlawful possession of a gun and matching ammunition, yesterday found himself before a city court facing similar charges, for which he was sentenced to two years in jail.
“I needed the gun for protection for me and my family in the backdam,” Dos Santos, 27, said when Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan questioned why he had the firearm and matching rounds in his possession.
The first charge against Dos Santos, a miner, alleged that on April 20th, at Garraway Stream, Potaro, he was in possession of a .32 pistol while not being the holder of a firearm licence. It was further alleged that on the very date and at the very location, he had six matching .32 rounds in his possession.
A guilty plea was entered by the accused, a miner, for both offences.
According to Police Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield, on the day in question, at about 8.30 pm, the police from Mahdia Police Station went to the home of the accused to investigate an allegation against him. A search was then carried out on his person and the firearm and matching rounds were found in the waistband of his pants.
Dos Santos was asked if he was licensed to carry to weapon, to which he responded in the negative. He was then cautioned, according to the prosecutor, and arrested.
The prosecution later told the court that Dos Santos was charged in 2017 at Linden for similar offences and was sentenced in absentia to three years for the crimes.
Chief Magistrate McLennan subsequently sentenced him to two years for each of the new charges and fined him $50,000 on each charge. Dos Santos will only serve two years in jail since the sentences are to run concurrently. There was, however, no indication as to whether or not the two years would run concurrently with the three-year sentence Dos Santos had received in his absence after his prior conviction.
