Crack Pipe Charge Uncovers Old Fines, Lands Belize City Man in Prison

A Belize City construction worker has begun serving three years in prison after a court appearance for possession of a crack pipe brought two outstanding fines to light.

Twenty-eight-year-old Erin Dillon Yacab, of West Street, appeared in court on Tuesday, and pleaded guilty to possession of a utensil used for smoking a controlled drug. Police say he was found with a metal pipe on Tigris Street on Sunday.  Yacab was fined two hundred dollars, plus five dollars in court costs, payable immediately. Failure to pay carried a one-month prison term.  It turns out, however, that court records also showed two unpaid fines from previous convictions. The larger amount, ten thousand and five dollars, stemmed from a 2016 conviction for possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply. That unpaid fine carried a default sentence of three years. Another outstanding fine of fifteen hundred and five dollars, dating back to 2018, carried an eight-month default sentence.  The court ordered the prison terms to run concurrently, meaning Yacab will serve three years in total. He was taken to the Belize Central Prison on Tuesday.