The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court has sentenced a "undocumented" man to one year and ten months in prison for selling 0.21 grams of heroin to another citizen in Arrecife and who had been acquitted by the Provincial Court for "a miscalculation." However, the court has agreed to substitute the prison sentence for the expulsion of the convicted person from the national territory with a prohibition of entry for five years
The events took place at approximately 12:30 p.m. on July 19, 2016, on El Salvador Street in Arrecife, where the defendant, with "total disregard for individual and collective health," provided another citizen with a total of 0.21 grams of heroin "with an average richness of 12.54%" in exchange for 15 euros, which "in the illicit market reaches the amount of 4.80 euros."
Therefore, the Criminal Court number 1 of Arrecife sentenced him in the first instance in October 2017, but the defendant appealed the ruling and was acquitted by the Provincial Court considering that the amount seized did not exceed the minimum psychoactive dose, which the National Institute of Toxicology establishes at 0.66 milligrams. However, the Public Prosecutor's Office filed an appeal against this second ruling, warning that the acquittal was based on "an erroneous calculation" by having converted the amount of drug seized from grams to milligrams, which in reality was "higher" than the minimum psychoactive dose.
Thus, the Supreme Court upheld the Prosecutor's appeal and issued a final judgment on March 12 ratifying the sentence issued by the Criminal Court number 1 of Arrecife of one year and ten months in prison, agreeing to substitute the prison sentence for the expulsion of the convicted person from the country, who has also been fined 4.79 euros.
