A strong mitigation plea by defense counsel Peter Alleyne coupled with his early guilty plea has saved Prisma Joseph of River Street, Roseau, additional jail time for deception.
Instead, High Court Judge, Justice Wynante Adrien-Roberts has ordered Joseph to pay over $12,000.00 in compensation to Rosa Darroux.
Earlier this year, during the Criminal Session of the High Court, Joseph, pleaded guilty when the charge was read to him he had been on remand for two years.
According to the facts of the case, as presented in court, between May 19, 2016, to June 8, 2016, Joseph dishonestly obtain from Darroux the sum of EC$10,800.00 with the intention of permanently depriving her of that sum.
He was to have ordered a Honda HRV vehicle for her and requested a down payment of $6000.00.
He later again requested and obtained from her another $1,800.00 for what he claimed was the clearance of the said vehicle from the port and an additional $3000.00 for increased port charges
In his mitigation plea, defense counsel Peter Alleyne told the court of his client’s willingness to pay compensation with interest to Darroux and that since he had been on remand for two years already for the offense a custodial sentence would not do him or the victim any justice.
“He has learned from his experience having spent two years on remand and he will walk the straight and narrow path of the law,” Alleyne told the court.
Justice Adrien-Roberts while agreeing that Joseph had fully cooperated with the police and had spent two years on remand stated that some degree of planning was employed by Joseph in obtaining the funds from Darroux.
In reading the contents of the social inquiry report ordered by the court on Joseph, Darroux (the Virtual Complainant (VC) had experienced “emotional distress from the incident” because at the time she was undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer and was also the main provider in her household and the money which she provided to Joseph for the transaction was from her savings and a loan.
The maximum penalty for Deception is 10 years in prison. The Judge gave a starting point of 2 years and 6 months in prison for the offense.
She said that based on the mitigating fact that Joseph cooperated with the Police during the investigation and his willingness to compensate the VC, 3 months was deducted.
An additional 1 year and nine months were removed for his guilty plea and time spent on remand; hence, there was no further order for incarceration as he had served this time.
Justice Adrien-Roberts did, however, order Joseph to pay the sum of $10,800.00 with an interest of 5% per annum from June 8, 2016.
The first payment of $5000.00 is payable on or before January 30, 2021, the balance to be paid within three-months by March 30, 2021.
In default of the first payment, Joseph will be imprisoned for 6 months and on release, he will be required to make the full payment.