Caught with crystal speed: 27 months in jail
The extensive confession before the chamber of the bayreuth district court only came in the second attempt. At the first trial in early september, a 43-year-old man from the district of kulmbach vehemently denied having bought 30 grams of crystal speed in the czech republic and importing the narcotic into germany.
The accused had made a confession two months ago, but then, to the surprise of his defense lawyer, he put the blame on a 40-year-old croatian man. At his urging, he went with him to the czech republic, where the croatian had obtained the addictive substance in asch, the man from the district of kulmbach had explained at the time.
A tall tale
He told the court a tall tale. At the resumption of the trial before the bayreuth regional court on monday, to which numerous witnesses had been summoned, the 43-year-old made a clean sweep right at the beginning. The crystal speed that police discovered in his car during a routine traffic check on highway 9 in early january had not belonged to his acquaintance driving the audi sab, but to himself. He had acquired the drug at the end of november 2011 in asch.
"Why did not the confession come earlier??", asked the presiding judge of the regional court chamber, michael eckstein, who made it clear that such a large number of witnesses did not have to be summoned. However, the defendant did not explain why he had done so.
The 43-year-old admitted to using crystal speed for over two and a half years. He was professionally overburdened and turned to addictive drugs, which led to an increase in performance.
Brother's house searched
With the mar, that his brother had supplied him with crystal speed in the beginning, he came clean. This is what he had claimed in september, which is why his brother's house was searched on the same day as the court hearing.
"I was in custody for three to four hours. The drug squad has turned our house upside down. The rumor that I have something to do with drugs has quickly made the rounds in our village. You are almost dead socially", the brother spoke yesterday on the witness stand about the fatal consequences of the false accusation.
No less difficult case
The accused, as he repeatedly assured the court, no longer ingests narcotics. What expert witness josef steinmann found credible. He said that a drug screening in the summer showed no abnormalities. Steinmann therefore did not consider it necessary to place the defendant in a detention center.
So the 43-year-old is not in detention, but in jail. The bayreuth regional court sentenced him to two years and three months imprisonment for the illegal importation of narcotics. With a quantity of 30 grams, there can no longer be any talk of a minor case, said presiding judge michael eckstein, who pointed out in his sentencing that the convicted man was under guard at the time of the crime.
Defense attorney wants "lenient sentence
Three years and nine months had been demanded by senior public prosecutor ernst schmalz, and defense lawyer lutz libbertz from munich asked the court for a "lenient sentence" asked. His client is either a dilettante or was heavily under the influence of drugs at the time of the crime. "He still had the crystal speed in his car weeks after buying it. It doesn't get any sillier than this, said libbertz. His client was now clearly shown at the bayreuth regional court that such stupidity is severely punished by german courts.
