PHILIPSBURG--The Court of First Instance on Thursday ordered two convicted armed robbers to each pay US $41,808 for the unrecovered jewellery that was taken during their May 7, 2022, attack on Ray’s Jewellery International.
In December 2022, the Court of First Instance sentenced Shevon Flanders (27) to four years in prison and Johan Davis (31) to three years in prison for their involvement in the robbery of the Frontstreet jewellery store.
Last month, the pair heard the prosecutor request the lower court to order them to pay $83,722 in criminal proceeds. He asked for the amount to be split between both Fort Willem residents because they “had an equal role in the robbery”.
Some $90,177 worth of jewellery was stolen in their early morning heist and only $6,455 worth was found when police arrested Flanders and Davis, the prosecutor had said.
The remaining amount is what both perpetrators illegally gained from their criminal act, according to the prosecutor.
Defence lawyer Shaira Bommel had pleaded for the judge to dismiss the dispossession claims because, in her opinion, they are insufficiently substantiated and inaccurate.
Bommel argued that the figure of $6,455 in recovered jewellery is wrong, as the value of two emerald bracelets were seemingly not included in the calculation.
Both pieces were found in a search of Davis’ home and the owner recognised them as belonging to the store’s collection, the defence lawyer said, adding that one was priced around $13,000 and the other around $9,000.
The dispossession claims are based on a list of items submitted by the jewellery store owner, and Bommel argued that the list appeared to be the store’s entire inventory and not a specified account of what was taken during the robbery.
She also argued that her clients have little to no assets and, therefore, will unlikely have the means to repay when they are released from prison.
The court sided mostly with the prosecution in its verdict on Thursday.
The court ruled that the list of items concerned the stolen goods and not the entire inventory, as Bommel had argued.
Bommel’s argument that the calculation was unsubstantiated and incorrect was also largely dismissed by the court.
The court noted that the list of items contained both wholesale and retail prices for each piece of jewellery, with the calculation of criminal proceeds being based on the former.
The bracelet that Bommel mentioned as being worth about $9,000 is based on the retail price, and its wholesale price of $1,650 was already included in the calculation, the court ruled.
As for the $13,000 bracelet, this piece of jewellery was not listed as part of the stolen goods and “therefore not part of the criminal proceeds and has not been included in the calculation,” it was stated in the verdict.
However, the court did find that one piece of recovered jewellery – a pair of earrings with a wholesale price of $105 – had been missed in the calculation.
After deducting the value of the earrings, the court ruled that Flanders and Davis collectively gained $83,617 from the jewellery store robbery and ordered each to pay $41,808.
Failure to comply with this order would result in an additional two years of imprisonment for both men, according to the verdict.
The court also rejected Bommel’s argument that Flanders and Davis do not have the ability to repay.
“It has not yet become plausible that the convicted persons now, and in the future, have insufficient financial capacity to meet the payment obligations imposed on them,” it was stated in the verdict.
