7 News Belize

Maria Reimer Convicted of Credit Union Robberies in Canada
posted (February 25, 2010)

In 2003, Maria Reimer came to our studios promoting her first solo CD. The then 19 year old San Ignacio resident wasn’t like most who passed through our studios with a new release. First, she was female singing country tunes in English and Spanish and second, she was of Mennonite descent. We never heard from her again after she went to pursue her dreams of pop stardom in Canada where she was going to college.

But that dream has turned into a nightmare and tonight, the news is that Maria Reimer now known as Emelda Marie Cuddy has been sentenced to four and a half years in a Canadian prison. According to The Gazette, a Canadian newspaper, she was sentenced in a provincial court in Winnipeg, Canada. The newspaper states that she admitted to being the woman behind the mask who held up six credit unions in Winnipeg between July and December 2007. The robberies netted $35,000 Canadian dollars which is about $66 thousand Belize dollars. She has been ordered to repay all of the stolen money.

Though she never used a gun, the report states that Cuddy would threaten bank staff with violence — in one case claiming she would return to kill a pregnant teller if her demands weren't complied with, court was told. In her final robbery, bank staff observed Cuddy crying as she stood in line, waiting to be called to the counter where she produced a threatening note demanding cash. “I don't want to do this," she sobbed to her victim.

So what went wrong with the once promising Maria? The report states that her Defence lawyer John Corona said she began hanging out at several Winnipeg bars and "got caught up with the wrong crowd." At sentencing yesterday, the 26-year-old is reported to have blown a kiss to everyone as she was led away in handcuffs. Canadian Justice officials remarked that the case is one of the most unusual to come before the courts in many years.

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