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Colombians jailed for seven years for €2.2 million cocaine possession
Summary
Two Colombians, Pedro Ruiz (38) and David Sanchez (29), were sentenced to seven years' imprisonment each for possessing 32 kilograms of cocaine in Dublin. The men pleaded guilty at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court after the drugs were seized at a bed and breakfast on Stillorgan Road in Donnybrook on 26 June 2014. Their lawyers argued that the men were acting under duress from other Colombians to whom they owed money, and requested that Judge Martin Nolan avoid the mandatory ten‑year minimum. The judge accepted that the men had been under pressure and, believing there was hope for rehabilitation, imposed a seven‑year term backdated to the date of their arrest. The prosecution's counsel, Anne Marie Lawlor BL, said the men's claims of coercion were not corroborated and had not been mentioned in Garda interviews.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Colombians jailed for seven years for €2.2 million cocaine possession. Charges or matters: possession of 32 kilograms of cocaine at a bed and breakfast on the Stillorgan Road in Donnybrook, Dublin on June 26, 2014. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- June 26, 2014 Incident
- 2015-02-19 Publication
Why: The men's lawyers asked Judge Martin Nolan not to impose the mandatory minimum ten year sentence because the men were acting under duress from other Colombians who they owed money to. CNI source report
Case subjects
Defendant
Charges: possession of 32 kilograms of cocaine at a bed and breakfast on the Stillorgan Road in Donnybrook, Dublin on June 26, 2014 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Defendant
Charges: possession of 32 kilograms of cocaine at a bed and breakfast on the Stillorgan Road in Donnybrook, Dublin on June 26, 2014 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Places mentioned
- Dublin
- Dublin Circuit Criminal Court
- Stillorgan Road
Topics
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