Brandon Gillett Walks Free After Firearm Case Dismissed  

It’s been a long road for municipal court bailiff Brandon Vaughan Gillett, but today, he walked out of court a free man. For two days this week, Monday and again today, Gillett was spotted outside the Belize City Magistrate’s Court, waiting for his case to be called. Off camera, he told us he had a feeling the case would be dismissed. And he was right. This morning, Gillett appeared before a Senior Magistrate, alongside Legal Aid attorney Monica Stuart, who was standing in for his usual lawyer. Inside, the prosecutor, a police sergeant, told the court that the case would be amended. Originally, Gillett faced five counts of altering a firearm. But the prosecution dropped four of those charges and stuck with just one. Even that didn’t hold up. The Senior Magistrate dismissed the charge, ruling that the items Gillett allegedly added to his licensed firearm didn’t actually alter it. The prosecutor explained that “altering” means changing the weapon’s function—like sawing off a shotgun barrel or removing a serial number. In Gillett’s case, the additions were just accessories and didn’t change the firearm’s caliber or structure. With that, the case was thrown out, and Gillett was free to go. This case dates back to December 2023, when Gillett was first charged with five counts of altering a firearm without written permission from the Firearms and Ammunition Control Board. At the time, he initially pleaded guilty and asked for a sentencing indication. But when he learned he could face a year in prison, he quickly changed his plea and was remanded—spending Christmas behind bars before securing bail from the High Court. The case was originally scheduled to be heard by Chief Magistrate Deborah Rogers, but in her absence, it was reassigned to Court #2. Gillett’s arrest followed a family dispute at a funeral, where he was seen with an assault rifle. That led police to search his home, where they found his licensed firearm and claimed it had been illegally modified. Today, however, the court ruled otherwise.