Bulgarian claims he is illegally imprisoned

A HIGH COURT judge may have to rely on the audio recording from the Arima Magistrates’ Court to determine the sentence imposed on a Bulgarian man who pleaded guilty to malicious damage of an automated banking machine and having card-making equipment in his possession.

Justice James Aboud is presiding over a writ of habeas corpus filed by Dimitar Valchev Georgiev, who claims he is being illegally detained at prison although he has already served his time.

The audio recording is being sought to determine the exact sentences imposed on Georgiev after it was discovered court officials made an error on the remand warrant sent to the prison.

Georgiev is claiming he was sentenced to concurrent sentences of 13 and 14 months’ hard labour for the two offences to which he pleaded guilty in September 2017.

The documentation sent from the court to the prison showed sentences of 30 and 40 months respectively. The error was corrected and a new remand warrant was issued when Georgiev’s attorney Matthew Gayle filed a judicial review application, seeking information.

However, the State, while admitting there was an error on the warrant, is contending he was sentenced to 13 months and 40 months, but also that there is a detention order issued by the immigration department for his eventual deportation once he serves his time.

Georgiev is serving his time at the Arouca Maximum Security Prison, and will return to court on October 22.

In July, he also pleaded guilty to possession of card-making equipment and was ordered by a Port of Spain magistrate to pay a fine of $25,000, which he did on September 28.