LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Court of Appeal, presided by three judges, confirmed an 18-year imprisonment sentence and a fine of 38,000 for a man from Catania after he was found guilty of aggravated possession of drugs and association with third parties.
The Sicilian was found guilty of the charges at the end of a trial last April with six votes in favor and three against, however with six votes against and three in favour, the jurors did not find him guilty of importing in Malta in 2018, 25 kg of cannabis, with an estimated value of around 700,000.
When the drug consignment arrived in Malta,5′ the Sicilian indicated that it must be put into a garage. Helping him were two Italians who were working on the site.
In the appeal, the man requested the cancellation of the sentence, arguing that there was no proof that he formed part of any criminal association to import drugs in Malta from Sicily. He stated that when the merchanise arrived in Malta he refused to pay for it, although he signed for it and that he received it innocently.
The Attorney General Office noted that the man did not contest that he received the merchandise, unloaded it from a van and placed it in a garage.
The Court of Appeal said that there was enough evidence for the jurors to conclude that there was a prior agreement between him and others so that the drugs arrive in their final destination, adding that Bonannòs testimony is inconsistent. The Court therefore confirmed the first sentence.
– foto: Agenzia Fotogramma –
(ITALPRESS).
