Criminal court jails man who trafficked a kilogram of cannabis in 2010

A man from Qormi has been sentenced to two and a half years in jail and a fine of €2,500 by the Criminal Court for trafficking one kilogram of cannabis in 2010, after reaching a plea bargain.

45-year-old Marlon Apap had been due to undergo a trial by jury, in which the Attorney General had been requesting a life sentence, but a plea bargain was struck between the defence and prosecution just before the trial was due to start.

According to his bill of indictment, Apap had conspired with a certain Brian Godfrey Bartolo to supply cannabis to Charles Paul Muscat in Gozo. 

The police, acting on a tip-off, had intercepted Apap and Bartolo at Cirkewwa, discovering four blocks of cannabis resin and two sachets of cannabis inside Apap’s Mercedes-Benz. 

Apap had admitted his involvement and had assisted the police with further investigations. 

A court-appointed expert had confirmed that the four blocks weighed a total of 981.05g, and the two sachets of cannabis weighed approximately one gram in total.

Exhibiting a medical certificate and an identity card, showing that he was disabled defence lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri argued that Apap’s disability ought to be taken into consideration when meting out punishment. 

The defence also stressed that the amount of drugs should be compared with other cases, where differences of even one hundred or two hundred grams could have a significant impact on the sentence.

In sentencing Apap, Mr. Justice Aaron Bugeja factored in Apap’s cooperation with the police, the positive changes to his character since his arrest, the fact that he is disabled and that in spite of this, he now had a full-time job with the Arts Council. 

Although the minimum sentence for the offence in question is imprisonment for four years, the judge upheld a joint application filed by the Attorney General and the defence and reduced Apap’s sentence by two degrees. 

As a result, Apap was sentenced to imprisonment for two and a half years and ordered to pay a €2,500 fine.