Big fine, but no time

Tashieka Mair, Star Writer

WESTERN BUREAU

A Manchester woman, who tried to leave Jamaica by way of a forged document, was spared a custodial sentence when she appeared before the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.

Petoni Dyte, 23, from Mandeville, pleaded guilty to uttering a forged document, which resulted in a $100,000 fine being imposed on the mother of one. If the fine is not paid, she will serve three months in prison.

Dyte was taken into custody on July 27 at the Sangster Inter-national Airport in Montego Bay. It is said that she presented a Canadian citizenship card to an agent at the Air Canada counter to board a flight to Toronto.

The agent contacted immigration officers after becoming suspicious of the document. During an interview, Dyte confessed that the document was forged.

A further check at the Canadian Embassy revealed that the card, which was in Dyte's name, had actually been issued to a Chinese national.

Attorney Adrian Dayes, who mitigated on Dyte's behalf, asked that she not be sent to prison and that her conviction not be recorded. He said his client was going to meet with her father whom she had not seen since 2004, and was trying to make arrangements for her to reside with him in America.