By Breaking Belize News Staff: Attorney Audrey Matura says the sentence handed down to her former handyman, Prince Copious, for burglarizing her home was too lenient, particularly because her licensed firearm remains missing and has never been recovered.
Copious was sentenced Thursday to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to burglarizing Matura’s Chetumal Boulevard residence in April 2025. After credit for 224 days already spent on remand and other deductions, he has 10 months and 16 days left to serve.
Matura told Breaking Belize News that she believes the punishment amounts to little more than a slap on the wrist given the circumstances of the burglary.
“The sentence was lenient given the fact that he stole a licensed firearm which he refused to say where it is, other than to say to me he took it to Belmopan,” Matura said.
She also said that at the time Copious pleaded guilty, he was already on remand in connection with another burglary.
Matura further alleged that Copious had a lengthy antecedent history involving burglary and theft charges, but said many of those matters were never concluded because of repeated court adjournments and frustrated victims.
“His antecedent history shows many charges for burglary and theft but the court process so slow and frustrating that many of those cases were never heard as victims got tired of the adjournments,” Matura said. “That is why he had gotten away with so much and has graduated from petty theft to bigger items.”
Those claims relate to allegations and charges described by Matura and do not, by themselves, amount to convictions.
Matura said she had hired Copious to perform maintenance and handyman work at her home and business, placing him in a position of trust. Police later alleged that surveillance footage showed him using a makeshift ladder to access the second floor of her home through a bathroom window.
Among the property reported stolen was Matura’s 9mm Ruger pistol valued at $3,500, a magazine containing seven live rounds, jewelry, cosmetics, a knapsack and knives belonging to her son. The stolen items were valued at more than $6,000.
Matura said the firearm remains her greatest concern because it has never been recovered.
She also previously told reporters that while Copious was in police custody, he admitted the burglary to her and allegedly provided information about other persons to whom he would take stolen property. Matura said she recorded that conversation and was disappointed that police did not use the information to more aggressively pursue the missing items and firearm.
Copious initially pleaded not guilty following his arrest but changed his plea to guilty on August 11, 2026, after his trial had already begun.
As police transported him to prison Thursday afternoon, Copious reportedly waited until cameras stopped recording before calling out a message for Matura: “Tell Matura, I got 10,” before pausing and adding, “months.”
He will now serve the remaining 10 months and 16 days of his sentence at the Belize Central Prison.
The post ‘Tell Matura, I got 10… months’: Prince Copious sentenced for burglarizing attorney’s home but Audrey says ‘he should have gotten more’ because her stolen gun was never recovered appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Breaking Belize News Staff: Attorney Audrey Matura says the sentence handed down to her former handyman, Prince Copious, for burglarizing her home was too lenient, particularly because her licensed firearm remains missing and has never been recovered. Copious was sentenced Thursday to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to burglarizing Matura’s Chetumal Boulevard
The post ‘Tell Matura, I got 10… months’: Prince Copious sentenced for burglarizing attorney’s home but Audrey says ‘he should have gotten more’ because her stolen gun was never recovered appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
