Tonight, 11 persons, 10 of whom are from Belize City, are out on bail tonight after they were taken to court for allegedly engaging in illegal gambling.
The defendants are 55-year-old Lester Levi, a resident of #20 Nurse Seay Street; 39-year-old Gerald Tillett, a Tour Guide; 40-year-old Marlon Westby, a tour Guide of #3 Magazine Road; Jeremy Zuniga of a fisherman of a Belmopan address; 44-year-old Carlton Roaches Zuniga, a BDF soldier, 54-year-old Errol Flowers; Kyra Parham, an unemployed resident of #20 Nurse Seay Street; 27-year-old Shanice Valero, a resident of Armadillo Street, 40-year-old Marlon Smith, an unemployed of Nurse Findlay Crescent, 54-year-old Edward Saldano, a stevedore of Plues Street; and 38-year-old Jeffery Usher, a car dealer of Fabers Road.
The cops say that they were all gathered at the residence located at #20 Nurse Seay Street last Friday, August 27. Of course, it is illegal at this time to host any social gathering with persons outside of your immediate household. The cops say that the host of this illegal gambling operation was Lester Levi, and he was arraigned on 2 charges: hosting an illegal private gathering and using his home as a common gaming house.
The other defendants were arraigned on the offenses of attending a private gathering and using a place as a common gaming house.
All defendants pleaded NOT guilty to their charges, they were released on bail of $1,000. They must all report back before Magistrate Audrey Grinage on November 5, 2021, for their next adjourned date.
This evening, a press release was sent out from the Ministry of Finance, which is responsible for casinos.. They say that they have been receiving information about the existence of several unlicensed gaming houses in the country and wants that any party that conducts, hosts, or promotes live games or card games for monetary profit without a license is doing so illegally.
