PHILIPSBURG–Two men who were convicted in April to prison sentences of seventeen and fourteen years for a large number of armed robberies in 2016 were ordered by the Court of First Instance to literally pay for their crimes.
In a so-called dispossession case, the Prosecutor had called on the court to order Orlando Tovian Grey (29), who received the 17-year sentence, to pay US $4,235 in criminal proceeds. His co-defendant Kendy Pierre (27) would have to pay $3,975 as his share in the loot. The payments were to be made to Country St. Maarten.
The Court set the amount to be paid by Pierre as estimated by the Prosecutor’s Office, whereas Grey has to pay $4,105.
The Court of Appeals found Grey and Pierre guilty of having committed no fewer than 11 armed robberies during evening hours and “in the relatively short period” from July 27 through October 18, 2016.
Eight of the 11 cases concerned Chinese restaurants or supermarkets, but a gas station and a Subway outlet were also victims in this spate of armed robberies.
Armed robbery carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. In imposing the sentences for Grey and Pierre, the court took into consideration that they had threatened their victims with two firearms, and that in four robberies they had also exerted violence by hitting their victims with a firearm or by pushing the weapon in their faces.
The severe punishments did not sit very well with both suspects and their lawyers. On behalf of his client Pierre, attorney-at-law Geert Hatzmann immediately filed for a final appeal (cassation) with the High Court in The Hague. Lawyer Shaira Bommel did the same on behalf of co-defendant Grey.
In presenting the dispossession claim in court during the May 9 hearing, the Prosecutor explained that it is becoming common practice to claim the proceeds of a crime “because crime should not pay.” The “criminal proceeds” can be claimed within two years after a prosecutor has presented his or her closing speech during a trial in the Court of First Instance.
Attorneys Bommel on behalf of Grey and her colleague Hatzmann, who pleaded for Pierre, both had tried to convince the Judge that their clients, considering their awkward financial situation now and in the future, have no or insufficient resources to comply with their obligation to pay.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/88515-two-supermarket-robbers-must-pay-for-their-crimes
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