Daily Herald story Quoting one of the suspects "...because everyone did that. I saw that many people were doing the same thing and I did not think that I was violating the law..." Really?? You are that morally bankrupt??

When you have a mob mentality, there seems to be no wrong done. All moral and ethical standards seem to disappear.

As usual, the sentences are pretty light by US standards.

In this circumstance, I don't know whether the suspects had any prior records or not. If they didn't, it's not unusual in the US to get a very minimal sentence for stealing offenses.

That is one of the problems with "going with the masses" in a situation like this. Desperate and/or stupid people make strange statements as they themselves believe them to be true.

It's common for criminals to rationalize their actions.

I couldn't agree with you more. For any of these people to say that they don't know right from wrong is very troubling. If someone jumps off the empire state building should we all follow?? I don't care if they are first time offenders or not--they need to be dealt with so that they know that there are consequences for their actions. The St. Maarten judicial system does not seem to think the same way---unfortunately. Why should any of them be afraid of doing wrong if you are just slapped on the hand??

And therein lies what many of us have long felt is one of the root causes of so many of the island’s crime related issues. Very little accountability and no good reason for these people to worry about the eventual consequences of their actions. Sad! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Your kidding right....they just let Bo Bergdahl off scott free.

If he admitted to doing the crime why is he referred to as a "suspect". <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cloud.gif" alt="" />