Suspect Felix Roell Maduro arriving at the courthouse on Wednesday morning, June 29, 2023.
PHILIPSBURG--Two young men who stood trial for involvement in fifteen armed robberies, committed in November and December 2021 at Chinese supermarkets and a restaurant, two bars and a lottery booth, were sentenced Wednesday to 24 and fourteen months youth detention, respectively.
The Court of First Instance went through all the charges with the two defendants and their lawyers, during a full-day hearing three weeks ago, on June 7. Both suspects were facing similar charges, which included armed robbery and illegal firearm possession.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the two showed firearms and threatened with violence as they forced business personnel to open cash registers and give them money. During each robbery they took several hundred American dollars.
The “very extensive” case file includes video-surveillance camera images showing “very clear similarities” concerning the perpetrators, their weapons, clothing and demeanour, the prosecutor said.
The Prosecutor’s Office considered most armed robberies and illegal firearm possession proven and called for an eight-year prison sentence for 21-year-old Felix Roell Maduro. His co-defendant Dishawn R., who will be turning 18 in two weeks’ time, on July 12, is still a minor and should be sentenced to two years youth detention, according to the prosecutor.
Maduro is currently detained at the Miss Lalie Youth Care Detention and Rehabilitation Center. R., who currently is 17 years old, was released from pre-trial detention, due to the fact that he is still a minor.
‘Ravaged’
The prosecutor said that St. Maarten was “ravaged” by a large number of raids in primarily Chinese supermarkets in late 2021 by two or three masked men using the same modus operandi. All armed robberies were committed in the evening hours, between 6:30 and 10:00, in various districts including Sucker Garden, Dutch Quarter, Middle Region and St. Peters. Some of the supermarkets were raided more than once.
Maduro largely confessed to participation in most of the alleged armed robberies, all but one of which were captured on video-surveillance cameras. R. denied his involvement in most of the robberies, stating to the court that he did not recognise himself from the video images, or saying that he did not have any recollection of the robberies, which date back some 18 months. Both defendants told the court that they committed robbery to get money.
Attorney Shaira Bommel said that R., who was arrested in October 2022, wanted to come clean and confess to being involved in several robberies, “but that does not mean that he is guilty of all alleged robberies”, she said during the hearing.
Maduro’s lawyer Safira Ibrahim said that her client started to commit robberies “because he was not living right”, due to “unstable and unsafe” living conditions. She pleaded with the court not to impose a prison sentence considering her client’s young age and to continue his youth-detention trajectory at Miss Lalie Center for two years.
In sentencing, the judge in the Court of First Instance arrived at a different conclusion than the Prosecutor’s Office where the evidence in this case was concerned.
Some raids involved more than two robbers. In addition, the file showed that the perpetrators changed clothes. According to the court, the fact that probably the same firearms were used in different robberies was also insufficient to conclude that these two suspects were involved in these robberies, because it could not be established that they were the only ones who used these firearms.
The court did find it proven that R. had robbed Happy Valley supermarket of US $500 on November 16, 2021; had taken $200 from Flanders supermarket and Bobby Food supermarket between December 10, 2021, and December 11, 2021; and had robbed Juan bar and Bryson’s bar of $400 and $100, respectively, on December 19, 2021.
Both R. and Maduro were found guilty of illegal firearm possession between November 16, 2021, up to and including December 19, 2021.
Maduro was found guilty of participation in the November 12, 2021 robbery of Wanda supermarket during which $350 were stolen. He was also convicted of robbing King’s Lotto and Happy Valley supermarket of $500 on November 16, 2021, and of the December 3, 2021 robberies of Wing Da and Wan Da supermarkets, during which the total amount of $800 were taken.
On December 7, 2021, he took $500, a bottle of cognac and a bottle of whisky from Tian supermarket. December 10-12, 2021, he raided Flanders and Wing Da supermarket and Ken’s restaurant, the court ascertained.
Juvenile law
Despite the fact that Maduro is a young adult, the court decided to apply juvenile law because the defendant had a difficult childhood without a stable home base. Because he did not have an income to provide for himself he committed robberies, the court said. Due to the fact that he committed nine armed robberies he was sentenced to the maximum term of 24 months youth detention.
R. was sentenced to 14 months for his involvement in armed robberies of supermarkets and bars. In sentencing, the court considered a report of the Court of Guardianship which stated that he was doing well in school and had found himself a full-time job at a hotel.
During his trial hearing, R. informed the court that he graduated from the Vocational Training School and had earned himself a contract at the hotel.
