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It's an unthinkable act to destroy part an Ancient Mayan Temple. But, what is the sentence for such an egregious act? Daniel Ortiz was there for the Sentencing hearing, and here's his story:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
UDP Politician Denny Grijalva; his wife, Emelda; and their employee, Javier Nunez entered the court to find out what penalties they would face after being convicted of destroying the Noh Mul Archaeological site.

When he exited he court, Grijalva was all about the mea culpa when he exited court.

Denny Grijalva, Guilty of Destroying Noh Mul
"I am very sorry of what happened. We want to apologize to the Mayans, to the ministries involved and to the country and by extension, the whole world."

Leeroy Banner, Prosecuted the Case
"Of course we are satisfied because from day one we wanted a conviction and we got that. It was difficult to prosecute due to all the challenges we faced so I am happy with the outcome."

So, what would possess a right thinking citizen to destroy an important Natural Monument? Denny Grijalva says he didn't know that it was a Maya Mound. The Government's Chief Archaeologist says that he suspects that not only did Grijalva and his employees know, he thinks they did it for profit, since white marl makes for good road fill material.

Denny Grijalva, Guilty of Destroying Noh Mul
"You have to understand that I personally, when I went to the magistrate, it was the first time being at that place. I didn't know that place until we went there."

Dr. John Morris, Director of Archaeology
"Today people use a lot of the Mayan Ruins for road fill, they make money off of it. In other cases where they destroy these mounds, these mounds require a tremendous amount of labor and antiquity to build. They are a part of the tourism product in this country, they are a part of our education product in this country and for us to destroy them, and we need to levy heavier fines. We need to send people to prison for the destruction."

Daniel Ortiz
"A cynical person might say 'are you sorry for the damage or are you sorry for being caught?'"

Denny Grijalva, Guilty of Destroying Noh Mul
"No, well we are sorry for what happened."

The Chief Magistrate notes in her decision that all 3 defendants claimed innocence all the way to the end of the case. They refused to accept guilt, and told the court that it was the villagers who forcibly took control of their equipment and illegally excavated the site for the white marl. It was only at today's sentencing hearing that they apologized and took responsibility for the destruction. So doesn't that cheapen their apology?

Daniel Ortiz
"Why was it necessary in the case to try to shift blame as the magistrate said from yourselves to the village counsel?"

Bryan Neal, Attorney for the Defendants
"Well in terms of the legalities, every person before the court has an opportunity to put forward their defense and it was within our right to put forward that defense. If the magistrate did not find favor with it, that is why we are found guilty and we are paying the maximum fines allowed by law."

Dr. John Morris, Director of Archaeology
"Clearly, it's humorous when one seems to think about it. How can a village commandeer a private equipment from a company as large as De-Mar's, I mean that's utterly ridiculous."

All 4 convicted persons, Denny, his wife, Emelda, their employee, Javier Nunez, and the Company, De-Mars, will all have to pay the maximum fines of 1 thousand dollars and an additional fine of five thousand dollars each. That means for the destruction of national patrimony, the state is being paid a total of $24,000 as a criminal sanction by these defendants.

Bryan Neal, Attorney for the Defendants
"A thousand dollars and for the willful destruction of the Mayan Ruin it was the maximum again, it goes by the law. The magistrate made the point that a message has to be sent and I think that message has been sent very clearly because the maximum of $5,000 was award. So the total award comes to $24,000 in all which is the maximum allowed by law. The magistrate cannot operate outside of the law."

But does the punishment fit the crime? If you ask the State's agents, Denny and his fellow defendants got off easy.

Dr. John Morris, Director of Archaeology
"There was a total destruction of one of the main pyramids at the site of Noh Mul. In fact the destruction was so complete that very little could be salvaged from what was left there. It's appalling that someone could actually do something like that or commission somebody to do that. In the subsequent months after that destruction, we did some work out there to try to ascertain how much we could salvage, what pieces of knowledge we could garner from the destruction, but it was extremely difficult. We didn't get much, it was a total loss for the country, a total loss for researchers, and a total loss in terms of knowledge about the ancient Maya."

"This is a large site, this is a site that encompasses at least eight to ten square miles of occupation. You're talking about a small city that, in its heyday, had 15,000-20,000 people. Bigger than what Orange Walk is today. The site of Noh Mul belongs to the people and country of Belize and by extension, to the world."

Leeroy Banner, Prosecuted the Case
"I am happy with the outcome and I am happy the chief magistrate gave them the maximum fine possible under the law, but you were in court and you heard the fines. My only point and that was her hands were tied and she couldn't imposed a stiff penalty and so my only contention is that the law needs to be changed. You cannot destroy something as important as a Mayan Ruin to the country of Belize and to the world and you only fined $5,000 and $1,000. This ministry needs to look at the law and see how they can change it."

Dr. Morris agrees, and he tells us that there is a move afoot to increase the criminal penalties for destroying an Archaeological site.

Dr. John Morris, Director of Archaeology
"As the law was written, they were written way back in the 1950's. This particular law, at the time, a fine of one year in prison and $10,000 fine was considered large. Today that fine would be a slap on the wrist for anyone who is caught damaging or destroying an ancient monument. We cannot put a monetary value on the destruction done at Noh Mul, because you don't put a monetary value on our cultural asset. But $10,000 is a slap on the wrist. We are tabling a legislation that will increase those fines substantially. When I say substantially I mean 10 fold or 20 fold."

But at least in this instance, this convicted politician has had a change of heart, and he wants to help NICH and the Government protect all Mayan sites from the possibility of ever being damaged in the future.

Denny Grijalva, Guilty of Destroying Noh Mul
"I believe that we should work hand in hand with NICH and the different ministry that are responsible for this and see how we can find a way to protect the Maya Ruins, like proper signing and fencing. My company is prepared to assist them if they need any assistance, so this doesn't happen again."

Of important note is that Chief Magistrate Ann Marie Smith was especially appalled by the destruction of Noh Mul. She shared her personal feelings that it is regrettable that Belizean patrimony was treated with such wanton disregard, especially when nations like her home country, Jamaica, have no natural monuments such as those located in abundance in Belize.