By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
THIRTY-NINE migrants were charged with various immigration offences in court yesterday before being handed back to immigration officials.
Assistant Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain, with the help of interpreters, charged 39 undocumented men and women from Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba with an assortment of immigration offences. The charges include overstaying, illegal landing and knowingly misleading an immigration officer.
After pleading guilty to the charges, the defendants faced fines ranging from $300 to $2,000. Should a defendant fail to pay, they would be remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services, where they could face a maximum one-year sentence.
The accused have 14 days in which to appeal the ruling.
The magistrate recommended the accused be handed over to immigration for deportation after paying a fine or serving a sentence.
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