The Tribune

By DANA SMITH

Tribune Staff Reporter

dsmith@tribunemedia.net

A DOMINICAN man pleaded guilty in Magistrate’s Court yesterday to possession of fraudulent documents, having been found last week at the Lynden Pindling International Airport with a counterfeit Bahamian visa.

With the assistance of an interpreter, 45-year-old Alejandro De la Hidalgo was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Roger Gomez.

It is alleged that while at the airport on Sunday, December 9, De la Hidalgo had a Dominican Republic passport containing a Bahamian visa he knew was not genuine.

An immigration officer explained to Magistrate Gomez that De la Hidalgo arrived in the country around 2pm on a Copa Airlines flight from Panama.

While in the clearance hall, he presented his documents to an immigration officer who “became aware of a number of discrepancies”.

The accused was denied entry and later escorted to the Carmichael Road Immigration Detention Centre, the immigration officer told the court.

The visa was later checked by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who determined the document to be forged, he added.

De La Hidalgo was represented in court by Tecoyo Bridgewater, who emphasised De la Hidalgo’s guilty plea and asked the court not to sentence his client to prison.

He said his client was “very forthcoming” and did not waste the court’s time.

“He is remorseful for what occurred,” Mr Bridgewater said, explaining that De la Hidalgo told him he was in a position where he “needed to get out of his country”.

The Dominican Republic is facing “trying times,” he said, and De la Hidalgo was not in a good financial situation.

Mr Bridgewater also mentioned that De la Hidalgo was a father. “Consider the child left home,” he said.

He pointed out that his client had already spent four days at the Detention Centre. He said just one day there would have a “tremendous affect” on a person.

In the spirit of the “season of giving”, he asked the court to allow De la Hidalgo to go back home after paying a “reasonable fine.”

After considering the statements from the prosecution and the defence, Magistrate Gomez ordered De la Hidalgo to either pay a $1,000 fine or serve two months at Her Majesty’s Prison.

Mr Bridgewater told Magistrate Gomez he was “much obliged”.