Last night, we showed you the short victory lap that Police Commissioner Chester Williams took while announcing the recapture of Michael Faux and Erwin Lanza, the last of the 28 prisoners who had escaped from the Belize Central Prison last October.
Both men were caught this weekend, neatly closing the chapter on the biggest prison break in Belize's history. And this morning, they were taken before Senior Magistrate Aretha Ford.
34-year-old Faux, a Belize City resident who was convicted of murder; and 22-year-old Lanza, who was convicted of possession of a prohibited firearm, were both arraigned on a single charge of escaping from prison. Both men pleaded guilty with an explanation.
Faux begged for leniency, saying that there are things that the prison has put him through things which the general public does not know or understand.
Lanza also accepted the facts as read out by the police prosecutor.
He told the court, quote, "Virgilio Murrillo was putting people who had corona with (those of) us, who never had it." End quote.
Regardless, both inmates were sentenced to serve 2 additional years in prison for the escape conviction. This new sentence is to run consecutively to any current prison sentence they are serving - meaning it will be added to their time served. Faux was serving a life sentence, while Lanza was serving a 4-year sentence.
