The Court of Braga sentenced this Thursday to four years and eight months in prison with a suspended sentence, a man from Cabeceiras de Basto who was detained in the A3 service area in Barcelos with 945 grams of cannabis.
In order to have his sentence suspended, the 29-year-old defendant will have to comply with a conditional sentence regime based on a social reintegration plan that motivates him to be removed from the crime of drug trafficking in particular and all others in general.
You will also have to pay a total of two thousand euros, divided equally, to four institutions and associations.
The court found that from at least January 2018 to June 2021 he was engaged in the sale of narcotic drugs to third parties.
To carry out drug transactions, the defendant arranged meetings with his “clients”, who contacted him in advance by phone or SMS, as well as through other communication platforms such as “WhatsApp” or “Telegram”.
Meetings were held at various locations in the municipality of Cabeceiras de Basto, as well as in other locations in the municipalities of Fafe and Guimarães.
The defendant also carried out his drug dealing activities from his home, close to several entertainment venues such as a games room and bars.
On June 28, 2021, the defendant went by car to Spain to buy a drug, having been detained by the GNR upon his return to the Barcelos service area on the A3 motorway.
In the car, he had 945.042 grams of cannabis, which corresponds to 4007 individual doses and 325 euros.
In court, the defendant began by saying that he had never sold drugs, adding that he “managed” only three friends, but then admitted that he made “some, very little” money from this activity.
He denied that drug dealing was the defendant’s only source of income and that it was his way of life.
He said that he always declared income as a fitter for a construction company and that he was then receiving unemployment benefits until he opened on his own as a rancher in December 2021 and also worked at a computer store.
The Court ordered a stay of sentencing, considering that the defendant “does not possess a personality wholly alien to criminal duty, such that the threat of imprisonment and censorship of the fact would adequately protect the legitimate interests involved and would permit the reintegration of the accused into society in accordance with the law and without perpetuating new crimes.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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