SEVEN foreign nationals from five different countries were convicted of immigration offences in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday, with fines ranging up to $3,000.
The group, which included three Haitian nationals, one Jamaican, one Dominican, one Cuban, and one Ecuadorian, appeared before Magistrate Abigail Farrington in Magistrate’s Court No. 6.
They were charged with overstaying and illegal landing.
Magistrate Farrington convicted the defendants and imposed fines ranging from $1,000 to $3,000.
Failure to pay the fines will result in custodial sentences of three to six months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services (BDOCS).
The court ordered that all individuals be handed over to the Department of Immigration for deportation upon payment of their fines or completion of their sentences.
In a separate matter on Tuesday, December 2, a Haitian woman was convicted in the Magistrate’s
Court for overstaying. She was fined $800 or, in default of payment, sentenced to six months in prison.
The court rulings come amid ongoing deportation exercises. Immigration officials reported that between November 29 and December 5, twenty individuals were deported to
their respective homelands. That group included 19 Haitian nationals and one Brazilian national.
Comments
joeblow 3 days, 12 hours ago
... the government needs the revenue. Time to give civil servants their Christmas bonus!
joeblow 3 days, 12 hours ago
... the fines for these kinds of crimes and drug possession should be much higher!
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