Dominican national, Patrick Magloire, 51, was fined a total of $5,400 when he appeared before Magistrate Dr Velon John today, January 17, 2014 on charges of gun and ammunition possession. Photo: VINO

Magloire, who is also charged separately with the indictable offence of conspiracy to commit robbery, pleaded guilty today to keeping an unlicensed firearm and unlawful possession of explosives.

He was not required to plea to the conspiracy charge which alleges that he conspired with others to rob RiteWay of $42,000. The sum, according to Prosecutor Herbert Potter, remains unrecovered.

The father of five is required to pay a fine of $5,000 within fourteen days for the firearm offence or face an alternative of three years in prison and also fined $400 to be paid within forty-eight hours or face a term of four months in prison.

He was represented by Attorney Patrick Thompson.

According to the allegations, the defendant had a .38 pistol with serial no. PT58HCT without a licence; ten (10) 9mm rounds of Luger ammunition and nine (9) .380 rounds of ammunition without a permit for the items.

According to the allegations, officers accompanied Magloire, who was at the time in custody, to his Nottingham Estate home on October 25, 2013 where they executed a search warrant.

Upon arrival the defendant reportedly took the officer to an adjacent plot of land where he retrieved an old paint tin with several plastic bags near pieces of broken concrete blocks.

He allegedly handed the tin to Police and a search of the tin revealed a quantity of cash and a black handgun complete with a fitted magazine. It was later discovered that the magazine contained 9 rounds of ammunition. There was also a green and white Ziploc bag with 10 rounds of ammunition.

The defendant allegedly told officers on the scene that the gun belonged to him and he got it from someone three weeks ago and placed it in the tin after collecting it and stored it in the location where it was found.

He was reportedly informed that possession of the gun and ammunition were offences, cautioned but offered no reply.

On the following day, he allegedly told officers in a video recorded interview that he bought the gun four years ago from someone on the block in Road Town and paid $800. He also allegedly said he kept the gun for his own safety. He was charged on the same day for the offences.

Magloire, who told the court that he has been living in the Territory for over twenty years and is a Belonger, was offered bail in the sum of $15,000, but remains on remand on the conspiracy charge pending a suitability hearing scheduled for next week.