Well, the news tonight is that Castellanos and her common-law, Gonzalez Marcos, have been acquitted of the first 10 charges they faced for those illegal documents, and they may also get a full acquittal of the other charges they currently face.

When they were first arraigned in May, from the details of the investigation, it appeared as if though the Immigration Department had an airtight case against them both. They had reportedly been living illegal in Belize since 1999 at a Smith Street address. Alfredo Gonzalez Marcos had been employed as an X-Ray technician. The Immigration Officers believed that they obtained 2 birth certificates belonging to the dead Belizeans, Romana Gonzalez and Raquel Castellanos. Using those stolen identities, they managed to get social security cards, passports, nationality certificates, and a voter's identification card. All of these documents, Immigration believed, were all legitimately received through the proper application process, but because the identities are stolen, they were all treated as false documents.

Castellanos was subsequently charged with 4 immigration charges, and Orlando Castellanos was charged with 6. When they were initially arraigned, both defendants pleaded guilty. That's important because Magistrate Dale Cayetano adjourned their case for 2 days later. He intended at that time to pass sentence on them for the guilty plea after proper consultation on the laws and penalties. Had Magistrate Cayetano sentenced them both on the same day, their guilt would have been legally recognized as final.

But, during those 2 days, Castellanos and her common-law retained the services of attorney Kevin Arthurs. Then, on the day of sentencing, they both recanted their guilty pleas and stood trial, forcing the Immigration Departments to prove these offences against them.

We fast forward to this evening, when Magistrate Cayetano announced to both of them that the 10 charges that they faced for the documents were dismissed.

Their attorney, Kevin Arthurs refused to give us any interviews because the case against the couple is not complete, and that he would not want to prejudice the case. The couple still has to stand trial for 17 other immigration offences. That case involves persons who say that the couple misrepresented themselves as a legitimate Immigration employees and facilitated immigration documents for them using illegal means.

Arthurs did tell us that the main thrust of the Immigration Department's case against his clients is an interrogation session in which they admitted certain things. He was able to convince Magistrate Cayetano that the interrogators acted unlawfully when they denied the accused persons their rights during that interrogation. As to the guilty plea at the initial arraignment, the defendants claimed that the Immigration Department lied to them. They claimed that the Immigration Officers and told them that they should plea guilty, and then, they would get to go home, and if they don't plea guilty, they could be sent to jail for 25 years.

After hearing the evidence, Magistrate Cayetano ruled the confessions inadmissible because they were given under duress. The prosecution did not put forward any other evidence, and so, Magistrate Cayetano was forced to dismiss the first 10 charges against both, setting them free.