PHILIPSBURG – The Court in First Instance sentenced Juan Eugenio Martis to 18 months of imprisonment with 9 months suspended and 3 years of probation for smuggling 83 bolitas containing a kilo of cocaine from Curacao into St. Maarten on May 17 of last year.
The 50-year old defendant was not present at the hearing on Wednesday morning and the court handled the case in his absence. The public prosecutor noted that Martis has a prior conviction for similar crimes dating back to 2001, when he was sentenced to 20 months.
The prosecutor demanded 18 months of imprisonment, with 9 months suspended and 3 years of probation.
Attorney Sjamira Roseburg said that her client had not had support from an attorney, because at the time the attorneys were on strike. “He has made statements under pressure and his detention was suspended because he did not have an attorney,” she said, asking the court to exclude hs statements to the police from evidence.
The attorney noted that the dossier does not show how the drugs have been tested. “Maybe it was a rip deal and there was sugar in the bolitas,” she suggested.
Roseburg objected to the prosecutor’s demand, saying that in a similar case, the court had sentenced a defendant to 12 months with 6 months suspended. She asked the court to acquit her client, but the prosecutor said that he did not need the defendant’s statement to prove the case.
The judge went one step further and saw no reason to exclude the defendant’s statement to the police. “That has already been compensated by suspending his detention.” The judge sentenced Martis conform the prosecutor’s demand.
