By Breaking Belize News Staff: An 18-year-old construction worker from Dangriga has been sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to six firearm-related offences.
Jaheem Bernardez, a resident of the Bak-Ah-Town area, admitted to two counts of keeping a firearm without a gun licence and four counts of keeping ammunition without a gun licence.
The charges involved a black Stoeger 9mm pistol, a black Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol and four sets of ammunition totalling 49 live rounds.
Senior Magistrate Mannon Dennison sentenced Bernardez to 30 months for each firearm offence and 18 months for each ammunition offence. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently, meaning he will serve a total of two and a half years in prison.
Bernardez’s attorney, Ivan Williams, asked the court to impose a non-custodial sentence. However, the magistrate ruled that imprisonment was appropriate because of the prevalence of gun violence, including its growing impact on Dangriga.
“Confinement will serve as a deterrent to other would-be offenders,” the magistrate said.
Bernardez was among six young men charged following a police operation at a residence on Yampa Street in Dangriga on Thursday, July 9, 2026. Officers from the Dangriga Gang Intelligence, Investigation and Interdiction Unit reportedly found the two firearms and ammunition while executing a search warrant.
The five other defendants—Dorian Kenneth Fernandez, John Anthony Melendez, Moses Anthony Bobb, Vincent Maximo Melendez and Washington Jaheem Melendez—pleaded not guilty. The prosecution did not withdraw the charges against them.
They were remanded to the Belize Central Prison and are scheduled to return to court on October 14, 2026, when disclosure is expected to be provided.
Three of the accused men are members of the Melendez family, including two brothers and a cousin.
The post 18-year-old Dangriga youth sentenced to 2-and-a-half-years for guns and ammunition; five others remanded appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Breaking Belize News Staff: An 18-year-old construction worker from Dangriga has been sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to six firearm-related offences. Jaheem Bernardez, a resident of the Bak-Ah-Town area, admitted to two counts of keeping a firearm without a gun licence and four counts of keeping ammunition without a gun
The post 18-year-old Dangriga youth sentenced to 2-and-a-half-years for guns and ammunition; five others remanded appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
