Landmark ruling, Dominican Republic’s top court convicts energy thief

Santo Domingo.- The Supreme Court’s 2nd Criminal Chamber on Wednesday upheld a lower court’s conviction of Eddy Soriano Rojas for electricity theft, from the energy distributor Edesur.

Electrical System (PGASE) prosecutor Moises Ferrer announced the landmark ruling which includes a RD$ 593,951 fine to be paid to the Electricity Distributor Edesur, for unbilled energy consumed.

Soriano was convicted of violating General Electricity Law 125-01 for having illegal connections to consume electricity and dodge payment.

"Supreme Court justices Miriam Germán, Esther Agelan, Alejandro Moscoso, Hirohito Reyes and Frank Soto ruled to convict based on the prosecution’s evidence, proceeding to uphold the sentence," the agency said in a statement.

It said Soriano was also sentenced to pay 10 minimum wages in damages to the Dominican State and for the cost of the proceeding.

Ferrer said although it’s the first conviction upheld by the Supreme Court, other pending cases will also be confirmed because of the hard evidence gathered against the energy thieves.