Deportee faces six months for credit card fraud

WESTERN BUREAU:

A Kingston man who attempted to buy a television set with a fraudulent credit card was sentenced to six months' imprisonment when he appeared in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court on Monday.

Andrew Waul, whose address was not specified in court, pleaded guilty to obtaining goods by false pretence. He was slapped with the six-month sentence after admitting that it was not his first offence.

The facts are that on April 27, Waul went to an appliance store and presented an American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) MasterCard credit card to purchase a Samsung television. However, checks revealed that the card did not belong to him. The police were summoned and he was arrested and charged.

"Why were you trying to get this TV?" Resident Magistrate Carolyn Tie asked Waul in court.

"A guy offered me an opportunity - that I'd get some money out of it once he sold it," Waul said.

He added that he was driven to desperation because of his inability to get a job since he was deported from the United States in 2009.

"I've been in Jamaica for four years and have been looking everywhere for a job. I have a college education, and things have been going downhill," Waul said. "I took a desperate chance to get some money so I could function."

"How is it you returned to Jamaica? Did you commit an offence for them to deport you?" asked RM Tie.

"Yes, it was a homicide," Waul admitted.

"Do you have any convictions in Jamaica?" RM Tie asked.

"Yes, uttering a forged document, and I got a suspended sentence. It was a traveller's cheque," said Waul.

RM Tie eventually sentenced Waul to six months behind bars, citing his multiple convictions as having influenced her decision.

"The problem is that your means of trying to get your life in order was to do something illegal. I have to take into account your previous convictions, and this is your third conviction. I also can't ignore that this is a serious offence," the magistrate told Waul.