PHILIPSBURG--Unprepared but willing Dalise Chery showed up to court with her son and sat in front of the Judge and Prosecutor facing-human smuggling charges. The Prosecutor demanded 91 days unconditional and 90 days suspended, with two years’ probation. Chery, who is from Haiti and resides on the French side, paid US $3,000 to have her son get false documents to enter the island.
“My son had to be with me and I did not know that the documents were false. I told police that. Why would I come to court by myself? I did nothing wrong,” she stated in Court on Wednesday.
She said her father is sick and she also needs to provide for her son. The Prosecutor asked her whether the son had been returned to Haiti, as he was ordered to be sent back in June. She said, “No,” the boy was still on-island.
The Judge asked her if she had known something was up, as she had paid 290 euros for her residence paper.
“Why would you pay US $3,000 for your son’s papers? Didn’t you notice the big difference?” asked the Judge. Chery answered that she had not noticed and that is why she went to Princess Juliana International Airport SXM to pick him up.
In his closing remarks before sentencing her, the Judge said human-smuggling is a serious matter and a prison sentence is always justified, but he would give her a chance in sentencing her.
