Citizen sentenced to one year for illegal entry

Senior Magistrate Tamia Richards fined and jailed a Jost Van Dyke resident who pleaded guilty to three counts of illegal entry.

In addition to a $2,000 fine to be paid forthwith, Dexter Donovan was sentenced to one year at Her Majesty’s Prison for the offences.

His sentences were as follows: a fine of $1,000 for the first count of illegal entry, six months in prison for the second count of the offence, and both a $1,000 fine and six months imprisonment for the third.

He was slapped with the penalties today, February 7.

After being sentenced, the 30-year-old BVIslander beseeched Magistrate Richards to reconsider.

The senior magistrate however noted the prevalence of illegal entry into the British Virgin Islands, adding that she cannot ignore the fact that Donovan committed the offence three different times.

While noting the weight of Donovan’s punishment, she further told the offender: “I don’t think you will do it again.”

It is said that Donovan committed the offences over a two-day period – once on December 22 last year, and twice the day after.

He reportedly sailed on his dinghy to and from the US Virgin Islands on those occasions without leave from an immigration officer.