Female kidnapper five years in prison

May 04, 2012 2:54 PM

PHILIPSBURG--The Joint Court of Justice sentenced Louella A. Flanders (33) to five years for her role in the kidnapping and violent robbery of C. Short in Nazareth on August 18, 2010, it was stated Thursday.

The woman was among four persons who had abducted Short from his house and robbed him of his belongings. Among the other suspects were her cousins Roberto and Ronaldo Brooks, who were sentenced by the Court of First Instance to six and seven years respectively, in January. Omar "Chuckie" Nelson (20) also received seven years for these crimes.

Flanders had appealed her six-year sentence, but Solicitor-General Anton van der Schans asked the Appeals Court to confirm her conviction and penalty, during the April 12 hearing.

The woman did not deny she had done something wrong, but objected to the length of her prison sentence. "I know that I have done something wrong, which led to the kidnapping of Mr. Short," said Flanders.

She told the Appeals Court she had done office work at Short's company for which she wasn't paid. "It concerned over US $1,000. I kept asking for the money without me ever getting paid. I made the plan for the robbery because it made me angry. I was angry when I planned the robbery and couldn't think clearly. It frustrated me that I had been working without payment," Flanders explained.

She confessed she had involved her cousins Roberto and Ronaldo Brooks, who had asked Omar Nelson to come with them. Together, the four went to Short's house, but when Flanders found out Short had a visitor she asked him to take her home.

On the way to Nazareth the Jeep in which Short and Flanders were driving was rammed by a car. "Chucky [Nelson, ed.] kicked Short down. He was beaten. We drove around for several hours," Flanders told the Court.

She said Short's hands and legs were taped, with a bag put over his head. He was put in the trunk of his car, and Nelson told him he would be killed if he wouldn't cooperate. He was robbed of his belongings, and Flanders attempted to use his bank card to obtain money from an ATM-machine.

The Appeals Court judges held it against Flanders that she had robbed and abducted an acquaintance for several hours. "The suspect planned the robbery and involved the men with whom she was to carry out the plan. The victim must have been scared to death by the way in which the robbery and abduction took place." It was stated in the verdict.

In sentencing, the three-judge panel took into account that Flanders "may have played a role in limiting the violence exerted against the victim." It was also held in her favour she had not been convicted before.

Attorney-at-law Shaira Bommel had stated Flanders had only been the planner of the crime, but had not taken part in the violent robbery.

The Joint Court considered the abduction and robbery as a confluence of events, which led the judges to see it as one single crime, and not two separate crimes as charged by the Prosecutor. This all led the Appeals Court to reduce Flanders' sentence by one year.

(The Daily Herald)

In this case Flanders was represented by attorney at law Shaira Bommel of law firm Sulvaran & Peterson on Sint Maarten.