Cocaine pusher jailed for 18 years, fined Lm18,000

A 29-year-old Mqabba man was yesterday jailed for 18 years and fined Lm18,000 after he was found guilty in a trial by jury of trafficking in cocaine.

Jurors on Wednesday found Antonio Barbara guilty by six votes to three of trafficking in cocaine and of the possession of the drug in circumstances denoting it was not for his personal use on and before August 2000.

They cleared Mr Barbara of the possession of heroin with the intent to sell but found him guilty of its simple possession and relapsing.

On handing down judgment yesterday morning Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono noted the submissions made by both parties.

Dr Barbara's defence team - lawyers Jason Azzopardi and José Herrera - called on the court to note that the 6-3 verdict was the minimum verdict allowed by law and added that the verdict showed a "divided jury" as a third of the jurors did not believe Lawrence Micallef, the prosecution's main witness, who said he had bought cocaine from Mr Barbara in 1997.

The lawyers also noted that, at the time of the commission of the drug deal, Mr Barbara was about 20 years old and that he was a victim of drugs.

The judge also heard lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell prosecuting, explain that he agreed with certain points made by the defence, that is that Mr Barbara was a drug addict.

On evaluating the submissions and the circumstances of the case, the judge noted that Mr Barbara had faced a jail term that ranged between four years and life imprisonment. He commented on the "exaggeratedly wide parameters" set by the legislator and which the courts had to work within.

The judge noted Mr Barbara's age and could understand that he had probably been caught in the drug trap and had ended up in a situation where he sold drugs to sustain his addiction. However, on the other hand, the court said it could not ignore that he had spread destruction among others.

Mr Justice Galea Debono thus decided to jail Mr Barbara for 18 years and fine him Lm18,000. He ordered that the time he spent in preventive custody be deducted from his jail term and also ordered the confiscation of all his assets.