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Burglar Robbed The Deputy Governor
Fri, January 13, 2017
Tonight, 32 year-old Leon Price is at prison tonight awaiting a sentencing after he was convicted of burglary in the Magistrate's Court. He was accused of breaking into the home of Christine Vellos, the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, and stealing $3,000 worth of her jewelry.

Her husband, Russell Vellos, who is the editor of the Amandala Newspaper, testified against Price that the incident happened on August 13, 2016, when Price was working for him in the yard. He said that he gave his house keys to Price so that he could deliver it to their cleaning lady, Juanita Lopez, because he had to go out. He made it explicitly clear that he did not give Price permission to enter his house.

Christine Vellos testified that on the next day, she was preparing to go to church when she noticed that her jewelry were missing from the jewelry box she kept in their bedroom. She estimated that $3,000 worth of jewelry was missing. The main witness against Price was the cleaning lady, Juanita Lopez, who told the court that when she arrived at the Vellos residence, she noticed that the front door was opened. She told the court that she said good morning twice, and that's when she saw Price coming out of the bedroom. She said that Price went back in, stayed there for 2 minutes more, before coming out and asking for a glass of water. He then handed the keys over to Juanita and left.

In his defence, Price gave an unsworn statement denying that he committed the offence. After considering all the evidence, Magistrate Norman Rodriguez found him guilty of the charge, and he has deferred sentencing until Thursday, January 19.

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