PHILIPSBURG–Convict Felix Floyd Crawford (39), who had been sentenced by the Court of First Instance to twenty years for a series of crimes, saw his sentence reduced to seventeen years by the Court of Appeals on Thursday.
The Court of First Instance sentenced Crawford on July 13, 2016, for a series of crimes committed between December 31, 2010, and October 21, 2015. In this period of almost four years, he committed a series of armed burglaries, four thefts with assault and battery, and one case of attempted manslaughter against a police officer.
He was also found guilty of illegal firearms possession and of threatening two persons with a firearm. One of his victims was a 14-year-old boy.
Crawford used brutal force, leaving several victims injured. He primarily stole jewellery, cash, electronic devices such as mobile phones, and expensive perfumes.
In the 25-page verdict, which was read out to the defendant via video-conferencing with a detention facility in the Netherlands, where he is currently held, the Court of Appeals stated that Crawford was found guilty of eight home burglaries; one case of threatening several persons, including a minor, with a firearm; illegal possession of a firearm with ammunition; and four armed robberies.
During the robberies, which took place at the victims’ homes, the Appeals Court found it proven that Crawford had fired a shot at a police officer.
An elderly victim was severely mistreated during one of the robberies and was admitted into hospital for head injury.
In sentencing, the Appeals Court found fewer counts proven than the lesser Court. The Court of Appeals also found the defendant less accountable for his acts, based on the reports of two psychologists. These experts considered the suspect’s intelligence to be at a “weakly gifted” level.
The Appeals Court imposed a dispossession claim on Crawford’s criminal proceeds to the tune of US $14,150. The Court of First Instance had ordered him to pay $15,668 to Country St. Maarten.
Two victims had filed for damages. One of them claimed damages to the tune of NAf. 2,197 for repairs relating to an armed robbery committed on September 24, 2015. The man also claimed $1,900 in stolen jewellery.
The Joint Court ordered Crawford to pay NAf. 5,598 in damages to this victim.
A second victim’s damages of to the amount of $3,460 were denied because the defendant was acquitted of involvement in the burglary at a home on Celsius Street on July 2, 2015.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/71224-serial-robber-burglar-sentenced-to-17-years
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