7 News Belize

They Came On A Yacht, Left With A Criminal Record
posted (August 14, 2012)
They may have come to Belize on a yacht, but that didn't save three tourists from going to court amongst common criminals.

69 Bryan Peter Stein; 32 year-old Platina Yeek-Hwan Tong, both British Nationals; and 32 year-old French businesswoman, Lisa Christelle Chotard, were charged with illegal entry into Belize.

The private citizens arrived in Belize on Stein's private yacht, Maxime, on Sunday at around 7 p.m., where they moored near the Radisson Marina.

The vessel's captain contacted the harbour master at the Radisson who was supposed to contact the relevant authorities to allow legal access into Belize.

There was some form of miscommunication where the Immigration Department did not receive the information of their arrival until yesterday.

Getting tired of waiting on the immigration officials to arrive, the trio exited the vessel and went on a private tour of Belize without being process for entry in the country.

Well, they broke the law because according to the Immigration Department, they were not allowed to leave the yacht without the explicit authorization from an immigration officer.

As a result, they were arrested yesterday when they returned, and they were charged with illegal entry. All 3 pleaded guilty to the charge when they were taken before Magistrate Adolph Lucas, and Stein explained that he has travelled all over the world, but this is the first time that he has encountered this situation.

According to him, when they went to other countries before Belize, all the relevant authorities usually boarded his vessel within an hour of their arrival.

When that didn't happen, Stein said that his companions and he would usually just leave their passports behind and the captain of the vessel would just hand them over to the immigration officer. He said that this is the first time he encountered this arrangement be illegal.

Magistrate Lucas ordered them to pay a fine of $1,000 each forthwith, and because they showed that they did not intentionally break the law, the expulsion order which the Immigration Department was seeking against them was withdrawn.

Stein was escorted to an ATM, where he withdrew the money and paid the fine, which resulted in them being released to tour the country as legal visitors.

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