Two weeks after pleading guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter, one of the accused in the Bartica massacre was on Friday sentenced to 420 years imprisonment by trial Judge, Justice Roxanne George at the Demerara High Court.
The convict, Celbert “Chi-Chi” Reece, was indicted along with four others for executing an attack where 12 persons, including three Policemen were brutally murdered in Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), in February 2008.
Celbert Reece was sentenced to 420 years imprisonment
However, Reece along with another co-accused, Michael Caesar, pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter earlier this month and the trial judge ordered probation reports to be presented on December 16, when sentencing would have been imposed for both men.
But Reece’s report was completed and submitted to the High Court early, hence the ruling was handed down on Friday. The trial judge began the sentence with 65 years on each count but deducted 10 years for the guilty plea, another 12 years for mitigating factors and eight years for the time he spent incarcerated awaiting trial.
This brought the sentence down to 35 years on each charge; however, the sentences will run concurrently. Reece will be eligible for parole only after serving 30 years of jail time.
State Prosecutor Diana Kaulesar had detailed the involvement of the killings, telling the court that he transported a group of men to an island in the Essequibo River just before Bartica and then the following night, he took them to Bartica where the heavily armed men disembarked. She related that after a while, the group of men returned carrying high-powered weapons and two safes.
The Prosecutor added that the men then travelled to Sherima, where they ditched the boat and Reece was awarded with six ounces of gold.
Meanwhile, the trial into the Bartica massacre with three other accused continues in the Demerara High Court before Justice George.
