Belize City Man Awaits Sentencing After Pleading Guilty to Shopping with Stolen Credit Card

Belize City resident 37-year-old Andrew Smith is at the Belize Central Prison awaiting a sentencing hearing, after pleading guilty to shopping with a stolen credit card. Smith appeared unrepresented in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court charged with two counts of card theft and pleaded guilty with an explanation. He told the court that he was set up by three men, who actually stole the card and that he was just the one making the purchases. Those purchases added up to over twelve hundred dollars. Smith was remanded until September 9 when mitigation pleas will be heard on his behalf before he is sentenced. The complainant, 59-year-old Lucia Garcia, reported to police that she lost her card on August 23, after making a purchase at Golden Bay Store in Belize City. She noted that on Monday, September 2, she was contacted by the Belize Bank and informed that her card had been swiped at the Mirage boutique on Albert Street and Twins Supermarket on Saint Thomas Street.