BVI: To whom much is given, much is expected

Attorney General Cherno Jallow has appealed the High Court sentences of three civil servants and one businessman convicted of corrupting contracts at the T.B. Lettsome International Airport.

According to applications to the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal that were submitted in late February, the attorney general's chambers has asked the court to reconsider the leniency of the sentences of former Financial Secretary Allen Wheatley, former Budget Coordinator Bevis Sylvester, former Government Telephone Services Manager Berton Smith and local businessman Albion Hodge.

The applications state that the mitigating circumstances High Court Judge Hugh Rawlins considered in his rulings, that Mr. Smith had no previous offenses before his Dec. 4, 2003 sentencing and that all the defendants "belatedly pleaded guilty" at a Jan. 19 sentencing, were not sufficient reasons to impose the sentences actually passed.