Eight members of a drug trafficking network were sentenced on Wednesday by the criminal court of Sens in the Yonne, for the sale of resin and grass of cannabis in the Chaillots district at the start of 2021. The sentences handed down range from 18 months to 24 months in prison for seven of the eight defendants, all accompanied by a warrant of deposit, in other words a sending to prison at the end of the hearing. Convicts also receive a ban on publication in Sensas well as an obligation to work and care in addictology and to pay fines ranging from 1,000 to 1,500 euros.
Three other members of the network, including a young woman who had collaborated strongly with the investigators, had been judged duringa guilty plea procedure, to sentences of twelve and eighteen months in prison. Two other men summoned to this hearing but suffering from covid will be judged on September 15.
Second largest outlet in the region
According to figures from the Dijon judicial police, presented by the prosecution, the Chaillots point of sale was the second in the Dijon region, ahead of Belfort and Auxerre and could achieve a turnover of approximately 80,000 euros per month.
Dealers who smile on the bench of the defendants
Among the eight men prosecuted before the criminal court of Sens, only one was in a state of recidivism for drug trafficking. The others had no never been convicted of trafficking, which explains the partly suspended sentences pronounced by the magistrates. These men in their twenties will have shown a lot of levity throughout the hearing, smiling many times about their buddies, interrupting the floor or pointing the finger at the magistrates, as if we were discussing at the foot of a building. Obviously not very worried about the sanction that awaited them, just stressed explains the defense.
Traffic has already resumed at Chaillots
“Unfortunately the traffic is picking up”deplores the prosecutor, “There are some people who have not been arrested but whose names are in the investigation.” And the magistrate to cite the names of two brothers suggesting thatthey contribute to the recovery of the cannabis outlet in the neighborhood. This is the sign of the ease of organization of the traffickers that the representative of the public prosecutor’s office puts in relation to the difficulties which are those of the police. “Only two investigators from the Auxerre judicial police” contributed for five months to carry out the investigation. “They did a tremendous job”emphasizes the prosecutor, “but with thirty to forty clients a day, each day of surveillance entails the work of recording the facts for several days, because you have to report minute by minute what is happening.” The magistrate also regrets the lack of coordination of police serviceswith arrests during the investigation, which according to her have harmed the work of intelligence on this traffic.
Evidence too weak for the defense
The defense lawyers, for their part, point lack of evidence to challenge their customers. “My client is seen going back and forth”observes Jean-Christophe Tymoczko, “But his role, well defined by the police, is not so obvious. No buyer has questioned him. There is no evidence to say that he plays the role of seller apart from a photo.” “He missed an instruction phase in this procedure”adds master Linda Beauxis, who would have wished for further investigation. “We know that on the day of my client’s arrest, June 7, 2021, he is immediately replaced on the traffic”assures Master Arthur De La Roche, “You are asked to empty the sea with a teaspoon.”
A principal in his house in Spain
Another limit, glaring during this trial, was the absence of the main defendant, Marvin F., presented by the court as the head of the network 28 years old, currently domiciled in Spain. He is sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of 70,000 euros, accompanied by an arrest warrant and a ban on appearing in Yonne for five years. “I will put all my strength to ensure that the arrest warrant will be executed”promises the prosecutor, “and the Spanish police are collaborating very well.” But the individual was already the subject ofa search warrant since June 1, 2021 which has so far not borne fruit.
No conviction yet for urban violence
As to multiple episodes of urban violence in the district, they have not yet given rise to any conviction. From violence and degradation against neighborhood equipment, law enforcement and firefighters, surrounding traders, have been repeated four times since March 2021. Three of the traffickers tried this Wednesday are suspected of having participated in the acts committed on March 12, 2021. They will be tried in a week for these facts.