Conman ‘Tombstone’ Smith strikes again

While many were frolicking and basking in the spirit of the Christmas season and making plans for a fresh start in 2007 others had illegal tricks up their sleeves.

Allister “Tombstone” Smith was one of those people and earlier this week he was sentenced to 18 months in jail after he pleaded guilty in the Serious Offences Court to deception. He was charged for unlawfully obtaining three Dell computers from Courts St Vincent Limited valued at $10,497.{{more}}

On December 19, 2006 at about 9.30 am Smith posed as someone by the name of Carl Defreitas working at the Cotton House in Mustique and telephoned Courts requesting three Dell computers.

The virtual complainant in charge of the sales department said that Courts normally transacts business with the company in Mustique. The court further heard that Smith asked for the appliances to be taken to the E.T Joshua Airport for a 10 am flight to Mustique. However Smith telephoned the airline and told them not to send the computers by plane as he wanted them to be taken to the Grenadines Wharf for delivery.

Smith then took the computers from the airport and carried them to his house in Sion Hill where they were sold for $6,000.

Smith explained to the court that while he was serving a sentence in jail that someone told him about the company and how to go about his deceitful deed.

Just before Smith’s sentence was handed down, he explained his purpose for deceiving Courts: “Your worship, I owed some people some money and they were threatening to come and shoot up my home and my mother and I was scared.”

Smith even told the Magistrate that he wanted badly to change his ways for the new year.

“I have come to the realisation that handling people’s things is not for me. Prison is not for me Your Worship, I am a young man and I can do something with my life. If you give me one last chance I guarantee you I would not come back to this court. I have a family now and I want to change for 2007,” cried Smith.

Chief Magistrate Simone Churaman did not see eye-to-eye with him and sentenced him to 18 months.

That was not the last the court would see of him.

The next day he was back in the Serious Offences Court to answer another charge of deception. He was sentenced to a further 12 months in prison for dishonestly obtaining $3,000 from Jean Jack, 65, of Richland Park between September 15 and 16 2006.

Smith went to the complainant’s home and told her he was working for the Government of St Vincent in conjunction with the Cuban Government to build houses for poor people. Smith told her that they will provide all the materials for the house but all she has to do is pay for the labour. The $3,000 was handed over to Smith but Jack never saw Smith or her money again.

The chubby Smith told the court that he owed some men $11,000 and looked for ways to pay them back.

Smith has five previous convictions of deception.