Wednesday, November 21, 2007 Jail term, fine for 2 delivery boys
TWO delivery boys were sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison for possession of illegal drugs.
Peter Lariosa and Ruglenn Flores were also ordered by Regional Trial Court Judge Gabriel Ingles to pay a fine of P300,000 each.
In his decision, Ingles did not give credence to the denial of both accused and their allegations of a frame-up.
Lariosa and Flores testified in court that they were falsely charged after they refused to give the money allegedly demanded from them by one of the arresting officers.
Contradiction
The two accused were arrested sometime in January 2005, where .04 grams of shabu was recovered from their possession.
PO3 Alejandro Batobalonos of Parian Police Station told the court that in the night of Jan. 1, 2005, they received a robbery alarm and immediately conducted hot pursuit operations.
Upon reaching Sitio Tinabangay in Alaska Mambaling, they spotted the suspects, as pinpointed by the complainants, casually walking. A chase between them ensued and they later arrested Lariosa, Flores and two other companions.
Frame-up
The accused, for their part, contradicted the testimony of Batobalonos and disclosed that the police officer allegedly demanded P15,000 from each of them and when they failed to give the amount, a case was filed against them.
However, the court said the allegation of frame-up is not believable.
The court noted that one of the accused even confirmed that the cellular phone of the robbery victims was recovered from their possession. (KNT)
