A man who stole more than $48,000 in merchandise from his former employer has received a suspended prison sentence in Magistrates’ Court.

Kadeem Abraham, 37, admitted stealing $48,492.50 worth of alcohol, food and cigarettes from Warwick Rubis station, as well as falsifying account records to receive $45,876.35 from the same business, when he appeared in Magistrates’ Court in May.

Abraham was sentenced yesterday for the offences, committed while working as a manager at the premises on South Road.

The court heard that Abraham intentionally falsified records on the number of alcohol and cigarette orders that the business received between January and October 2023.

Abraham, from Warwick, stole an additional $2,616 worth of items from the store and was subsequently fired.

He initially admitted the offences last year, but changed his plea to not guilty in January before again accepting responsibility in May.

Theodore Terceira, general manager of the station, wrote in a victim impact statement that he had known Abraham since he was a teenager and spoke up for him when he was jailed in 2019 for attempting to smuggle a phone into Westgate Correctional Facility.

Abraham, a corrections officer, had tried to take the device to an inmate at Bermuda’s maximum security facility in 2016.

Mr Terceira’s statement alleged that Abraham may have told his brother to “help himself” to some stolen goods.

Abraham’s social inquiry report revealed that he sold the alcohol and cigarettes to pay for his daughter’s school tuition in the US.

Prosecutor Matthew Frick said that Mr Terceira gave Abraham a second chance and had placed a “considerable amount of trust, personal and professional” in him.

He suggested that Abraham be sentenced to between 18 months and two years in prison, with probation for the offence.

Paul Wilson, counsel for Abraham, said his client was working two jobs and has set aside $12,050 in restitution to Mr Terceira so far, hoping to pay off the full sum within three years.

Magistrate Craig Attridge noted Abraham’s early guilty plea and his pursuit of a degree from Southern New Hampshire University, but highlighted that he committed the offences, as well as the 2016 attempted smuggling, while in positions of trust.

Mr Attridge sentenced Abraham to one year behind bars, suspended for three years, with three years of probation for the offences.

Mr Attridge ordered Abraham to stay out of trouble during the three years, pay Mr Terceira full restitution, including $12,000 by July 29, participate in any programmes recommended by court services and return to court on September 23, for a review.

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