Meade, George sentenced to 20 years in prison
BVI News Staff - Monday, July 23rd, 2012 at 11:38 AM
Today, July 23 Presiding High Court Judge, Justice Albert Redhead, sentenced Courtney Meade and Ramon George, two of the young men who were implicated in the 2010 Road Town Police station break-in, to 20 years imprisonment.
The two defendants pleaded guilty to the charges of carrying an unlicensed firearm and aggravated burglary on May 8.
Meade and George are both in their 20s and are United States citizens.
Attorney Richard Rowe represented Meade, while Attorney Patrick Thompson represented George.
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21 Comments
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-Yes These Young Men Were Wrong For What They Did, Anyone Can See That. Yes They Recieved A Proper Punishment (Imprisonment), But My Only Question Is Why Are They Recieving More Time Than. Murderer Or A Rapist.? Seeing How The 1st Convicted Recieved 8 Years, They Should Not Have Been Given 20. Trust, An Appeal IS In Motion And Their Time WILL Be Shortened, By The Grace Of God.
This is the best news I have heard for this year 2012. Great job JUDGE……..
No sorrow here. If you big enough to do the crime then you should be big enough to deal with the consequences. Let’s take back Tola from the hands of these criminals. One crime per year is one to many.
I guess Tola will learn about this Judge he do not play. God help the individuals that have to face him with a guilty verdict.
We need to put the young uns who like to break into our homes in front of this judge. Too many of them are repeating their crimes after getting the slap wrist from the other judges.They need punishment as adeterrent. Even bending them over and giving them the strap in the middle of town is better than a curfew and some community service. The punishment of the crime needs to be worse than the rewards of the crime.
The judge did these guys a favor, afterall they did break in a police station
Now – that is what i call sending a message to all the furere bad boys out there. That is 20 years that society will do just fine with out having to worry about these thugs.
Redhead you aint playing at all. I think this judge needs to sit on some of the sexual assult cases.
Daaaa********…..This judge is not playing around. I think he is exactly what we need here…
It’s about time a sentence befitting the crime is doled out by our courts. I do feel sorrowful that these young men chose to perform an act that was not only stupid, but which shows a complete disrespect for our society and the institution and legislation we have in place to protect us. They chose to throw away a good portion of their lives and a chance to experience freedom and happiness from life’s simple pleasures. It is a shame, but they deserve their sentences. My only concern is the fairness when the other perp received 8 years for the same crime.
Let’s get his ramped up to 20 then.
Better that than we use this as a reason why they should get 8.
It’s about time those committing brazen crime amongst us be dealt with harshly. Kudos to Justice Redhead. He sounds like my kind of judge.
It’s always sad for me to see young men throw their lives away like this because I know there is so much more they could have done with their lives, but as my Momma use to say: Who don’t hear will feel.
And by the way, I don’t give a rat’s tail where the criminal is from. So long as he/she wish to be a menace to society, society should judge them harshly. Next!
Most of the BVI people in prison are US Citizen, because their Moms rush STT when they ready to pop!
In July 2010 68 prisoners were BVIslanders and 49 were expats.
you a real ass they still bv islanders because of the parents and grandparents status
Let’s see how long this senetnce will stand. An appeal court is BOUND to overturn it. After all, the man pleaded guilty, is a first offender and young. Three good reasons why this sentence will be set aside pronto. Then we will all say that Redhead waste his time. These are the types of sentences whhich will cuase people not to plead guilty because a guilty plea cannot attract the same sentence as a non-guilty plea or a conviction by the jury. Whilst Redhead is a sound judge, sometimes I wonder????
Make up your mind. Do you wish the court to continue to tap these brazen criminals on their risk only to offend again, or do you wish the court to give them a stiff sentence after they are caught and convicted?
Look, I believe Justice Redhead got the number correct especially in light of the fact that these young men had the nerve to attack the main police station armed to retrieve reportedly bikes taken away from them. They were out of control, and showed total disregard & disrespect for the rule of law and the institution in place to deal with such.
They are entitled to appeal like all others convicted and sentenced to jail time. None of the reasons you give are grounds for an overturn of the verdict imo. Unless, it can be shown that the judge erred legally, then they would most likely have to serve out their term.
Now, as for this sentence discouraging other who knowingly commit crimes from pleading guilty, then that’s a call they and their legal team will have to make. First, you should keep your nose clean (i.e. do not violate the laws), and I would think if you are guilty of a crime, you should man/woman up and accept responsibility for your actions. There IS redeeming value in doing so not only before a judge but with the public at large. Not pleading guilty to avoid a harsh sentence is rolling the dice, and any lawyer representing such clients would advise them accordingly, but I doubt any ethical lawyer would advise a client to plead not guilty when in fact they are.
Lastly, given all I have read about Justice Redhead in other jurisdictions, he appears to be just what is needed here in the B.V.I…a tough minded judge. Based on my research, I expect him to be consistent in his judgment, so future criminals who dare not plead guilty up front if they are before him hoping that if found guilty by jury they will get less punishment had better rethink that strategy.
Again, kudos to Justice Redhead. I like his judicial thinking as well as that as Magistrate Tamia Richard (an emerging B.V.I. Judge Judy). If all the other magistrates would stay similarly consistent in sentencing those who have been convicted of crimes, we might just see a dip in some of these crimes as they know that if caught and convicted, a long stay at Balsum Ghut awaits them.
So, stay safe, and stay out of trouble. In that way, you our any family members and friends would not have to worry about appealing an expected long jail term from Justice Redhead.
Ray, all I can say to you as a practising lawyer is that Rowe and Thompson will ceratinly take it to the Appeal Court and take note, this sentence will be overturned. You will read that he just sentenced Mark to 5 years. Mark has destroyed a young man- talk about ocnsistently??
There are sentencing guidelines and such sentences start at around 12-14 years. They are sclaed up or down depnding on mitigating or aggravating factors. Nothing in LAW can justify 20 years. Have you read his reasons?? Well, here are some reasons – (1) guilty plea (2) first offenders (3) young men Aggravating factors – no repsect for the law. Look at Olivetti’s 8 years -justified -cannot be touched. Bye Ray
I mean Mark had destroyed the future of a young woman> and he gets 5 years. Tell me about this??? Where is the consistent sentence.
You’re an idiot to compare this case to Mr. Mark’s rape case. The maximum for having sex with an underage person is 7 yrs as stated by the judge. Mark received 5 years which is only 2 yrs off the max. The guy never had a criminal record which earned him a slight leniency. You cannot give more than the law will allow despite how you may feel personally about the crime.
@Appeal Court. Well time will tell if indeed this verdict will be overturned. I have my doubts. Whatever sentencing guidelines are in place have rarely been used in the past from my observation. Indeed, many who are observant of the court’s rulings will agree that too often defendants get off easily. And now because we have a Justice who rightly threw the book at George, there is an issue with his judgment? I doubt Justice Redhead would abuse his sentencing discretion in passing down that sentence knowing that he risked having his judgment set aside. No judge wants that kind of record.
As I said before, he is entitled to an appeal as are all convicts. As for Mark getting 5 years, imo he should have gotten the maximum of 7, so he got off easy in my view. I see no inconsistency in this sentencing. The judge worked with what was on the books. Clearly, whatever the sentencing guidelines on the books for child molestation, pedophilia, and unlawful sex with minors need to be revised upwards. The sooner this happens, the safer those at risk will be, so that we can finally get some of these perverts off the streets. Mark is of new generation. There are many older men who have thus far escaped the hands of justice, and need to be held to account for their past actions if statutes of limitation do not preclude this.
Meanwhile, George will sit in jail and await the results of any such appeal. One last note, if you believe that being young, a first offender, and pleading guilty should automatically give a criminal a lower sentence, then you and I are ideological opposites.
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