Pizza baker stashed kilograms of cocaine in sports club premises – five-and-a-half years prison
A 44-year-old Italian man stored nearly three kilograms of cocaine in the kitchen of the TSV Unterhaching club premises, where he worked as a tenant operator. The Munich Regional Court sentenced him for armed drug trafficking.
Pizza baker stashed kilograms of cocaine in sports club premises – five-and-a-half years prison
In the storage room of a sports club tavern in the Munich area, officers discovered a substantial quantity of narcotics in the summer of last year. Investigators recovered approximately three kilograms of cocaine from the kitchen of the establishment, which a 44-year-old man from Italy operated as a tenant. Along with the drugs, officers also found a precision scale, packing materials, a blank-firing pistol and an extendable baton. In the suspect's private flat, investigators also discovered approximately 1500 euros in cash, which according to their findings came from earlier drug deals.
The defendant had worked as a cook in the TSV Unterhaching club premises for several years, whose men's volleyball team competes in Germany's top league division. The club apparently had no knowledge of its tenant's criminal activities. The tavern is now operated under new management.
The judges at Munich Regional Court found it established that the father of two had stored the narcotics in his premises over several months and portioned them for resale. After four days of proceedings, they imposed a custodial sentence of five years and three months. The prosecution had demanded a considerably higher sentence of ten years. The sentence thus remained at the lower end of the statutory range, which lies between five and fifteen years. The defence counsel had pleaded accordingly.
During the trial, the convicted man attempted to minimise his role. He claimed the cocaine belonged to a friend; he had only stored it temporarily and in return was allowed to keep part of it. He said he used the scale for confectionery, the vacuum sealing device for sausages. The firearm had only been used at New Year's Eve, and he had taken the baton from an employee. These statements were not convincing to the court.
Since August of the previous year, the Italian man had been in custody awaiting trial. This time is credited towards his sentence. However, due to a previous conviction, he must be expected to serve at least two-thirds of his sentence and would not be eligible for release before early 2029. According to BILD, repatriation to his home country after half of the sentence is also possible.
Source: BILD
Source: BILD