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| Store where Prado was arrested (Google Maps photo) |
A Filipino was supposed to walk free after a hearing at Eastern Court today because he was given a suspended jail sentence for drug possession and was fined for shoplifting.
But R. Prado, 49 years old and a deliveryman for restaurants,
will have to remain in jail because he is facing a separate robbery charge with
two others, also at Eastern Court.
Magistrate Minnie Wan sentenced him to two weeks in jail
suspended for 12 months, for drug possession, which means he would not have to
serve a day in jail if he keeps the peace and avoids reoffending within the next
12 months. She also fined him $800 for theft.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
Prado had pleaded guilty in an earlier hearing to possession
of 0.06 gram of methamphethamine hydrochloride (also known as shabu or ice) last
April 29 on Queen’s Road West in Sai Ying Pun, and for shoplifting eight ice
cream cones and three packs of cheese sausage worth a total of $216.80 at a
nearby Wellcome Supermarket on Pitt street in Sai Ying Pun, where he was
arrested later that day.
Before he was sentenced, Prado tearfully promised to Magistrate
Wan that he would stay away from drugs. “No more. Hindi na po,” he said
“Remember your word today,” she advised. “It appears to me
that you undersestimated the drugs’ effects. You need to quit dangerous drugs.”
His duty lawyer said Prado is not formally employed and has struggled
finding a job despite having studied in college in the Philippines. His rejecting
drug rehabilitation, which would prevent him from working, and the items he shoplifted
indicate his need to provide for his family, he added.
"He is just someone who fell into bad habits,” he added, noting
that the drug found on him was minimal.
Magistrate Wan may have been moved by his promise and his lawyer’s
plea to give him a non-custodial sentence, despite noting the negative
recommendations in the probation and drug reports she had ordered earlier.
Meanwhile, he remains in detention until another case resumes
on Aug. 27.
Prado is charged with robbery, together with R. Malonzo,
38 years old and a bartender, and A. Arceo, 29 years old and construction
worker for allegedly entering a “Green-Kennedy Town” store on Water St. in Sai
Ying Pun last March 20 and stealing an iPad worth $3,999.
Acting Principal Magistrate David Cheung ordered the three
returned to jail last July 2.
