Tonight, 22-year old Taedron Rohan Castillo is behind bars after failing to show up for court. He's accused of obtaining property by deception but it seems that this offense isn't the only one he's committed.
Today he made the choice to throw himself on the mercy of Magistrate Baja Shoman's court when he plead guilty to a separate but identical charge of obtaining property by deception when he conned a Belize City woman out of $500.00 under the pretense of renting her a house.
The woman, Claudia Chi, says that she contacted him on a Facebook page called Micheal Castillo where he offered to rent her a two-bedroom $500.00 per month house on Vernon street.
He told Chi she needed to make a total security deposit of $1000. Chi met him in October of 2019 and paid him half the deposit. He then told her she could go ahead and move into the house. But the next day she got a shock when she arrived at the 2 bedroom house and found the owner of the house inside. He told Chi that she knew no one by the name of Taedron Castillo or Michael and that his house was not for rent.
The next day when Chi tried to reach Castillo on his Facebook she was unsuccessful. That's when she made an official complaint and had Castillo charged with obtaining property by deception.
And today after his guilty plea Magistrate Baja Shoman imposed a non-custodial sentence upon him of a fine of $1,000 which he must pay the court by May 31, 2022, in default of payment, 6 months imprisonment.
Magistrate Shoman also ordered Castillo to pay compensation in the sum of $500 to his victim on the same date.
But, he's still on remand after Senior Magistrate, Tricia Pitts- Anderson revoked his bail when he failed for show up in her court, Court #3 for another obtaining property by deception case.
