Villa man gets eight-year prison sentence for aggravated robbery 

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By Tahna Weston

[email protected]

A Villa man has been sentenced to three concurrent eight-year sentences for aggravated robbery.

Rickardo Bussawan appeared in the High Court on Monday before Justice Ann-Marie Smith, who took into account mitigating and aggravating factors in deciding on an appropriate sentence.

Bussawan was jointly charged with two other men for robbing three elderly people at Mill Reef Club two years ago.

He confessed to the charges of aggravated robbery on December 13, 2024, while the other two men – Delon Wills and Marlon Carr are yet to be tried for the crime. Wills has pleaded not guilty to the charges, while Carr is yet to enter a plea.

One mitigating factor was his early guilty plea for which he received a one-third discount. Factors that went against him though were the fact that a knife was used in the commission of the offence, there were three separate victims, he made attempts to conceal the stolen items that were recovered at his home, the victims’ mouths, hands and feet were duct-taped during the incident, he wore a mask, the home invasion occurred at night, these types of offences are prevalent, it was a group effort and the offence was motivated by greed.

The prosecution also said that the victims suffered emotional distress and were inconvenienced as they had to cut their trip short in spite of being in the middle of conducting COVID relief efforts in the country.

The victims are said to be still traumatized and when they visit Antigua they are anxious, very uneasy and keep looking over their shoulders. However, they continue their mission here, including distributing care packages to locals.

In addition to the eight years, three months and 17 days jail term, the court ordered that the time which Bussawan spent on remand awaiting trial will be deducted. He spent two years, three months and 14 days on remand.

On April 6, 2022 the Villa man and the two other accused went onto the property of James and Elizabeth Lewis, a couple in their 70s, while they were entertaining a friend, and held up the trio at knife-point.

Reports are that around 9:45 pm, the victims were conversing under a cabana by the pool when they were accosted by three armed and masked men, who were wearing gloves.

The robbers allegedly grabbed the victims from behind and tied their hands and mouths with duct tape. One of the men allegedly told the female victim that she was rich as he forced her to open a safe. He removed her iPad Pro and then led her down the hallway to the master bedroom where there was another safe, but that safe could not be opened.

Bussawan, along with his two accomplices, relieved the three victims of a number of items to include a black-handled chef’s knife, iPhones, iPods, jewelry valued at over US $10,000, a curling iron and US$1,140 in cash.

The victims managed to free themselves and reported the incident to the police. Following intense investigations the trio was arrested and charged.

Attorney Wendel Alexander represented Bussawan pro bono, while Crown Counsel Paulio Williams appeared on behalf of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

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