Desira appeals 18-year jail term, says his admission deserved a ‘lesser sentence’

Drug convict Darren Desira, 37 of Zebbug, has filed an appeal against his 18-year jail term, handed down last month after it catapulted him straight into the heart of police investigations into the alleged bribery of a judge.

Former judge Ray Pace was accused of bribery in return to influence the court sentence on Desira.

In his appeal, Desira said he deserved less harsh of a sentence from the 18 years and €50,000 fine by Judge Lawrence Quintano, for conspiracy to import 2 kilogrammes of cocaine.

In the appeal, penned by defence lawyers Giannella de Marco, Joseph Giglio and Stephen Tonna Lowell, claimed that on the same day Desira was sentenced, another person who did not admit to the charges and underwent a trial by jury, had been condemned for far less than him.

Desira's lawyers argued that when an accused admits to the charges, a third of the possible sentence was usually deducted.

Tainted judgement?

Desira's judgement by Judge Quintano was subjected to a police investigation last week, which led to the arrest and arraignment of former judge Raymond Pace, who was charged with bribery, trading in influence and money laundering for allegedly seeking to influence the gravity of Desira's sentence at the behest of Sandro Psaila and Raymond Caruana, also accused of bribing the judge.

Although Desira's lawyers are claiming that so far there has been no evidence that the judgment against their client has been tainted, the matter has since been under investigation by the police.

Police claim they have evidence that there was an attempt by Pace to influence the judgement, and Mr. Justice Quintano will be testifying as a prosecution witness against Pace on January 7.

The other two men, Raymond Caruana, 51 of Zebbug and Sandro Psaila, 40 of Valletta were separately charged with bribing Pace and of exerting pressure on him to influence the judgment against Desira. Pace resigned from the bench on Saturday.

While Desira's defence lawyers claimed that so far there was no evidence which could indicate that the judgment handed against their client was tainted, a court heard yesterday how Raymond Caruana had admitted during interrogation, that he conspired with Psaila to exert pressure on Pace to influence the judgment by having it increased as much as possible.

He told Police that he wanted to vindicate himself of Desira who didn't honour a debt of €100,000. Superintendent Norbert Ciappara, who together with Superintendent Paul Vassallo led the investigations, told the court that in one phone call - which was intercepted by the Security Services - the disgraced judge was heard informing Psaila that Desira had been jailed for 18 years. Psaila is then heard telling Pace, "ok then I will give you those..."

Background

Informal plea bargaining negotiations between Desira's defence lawyers and the office of the Attorney General are understood to have failed some months before the trial in November, and the defence submitted the case to the Criminal Courts, where Desira had stand trial on November 27 before Judge Lawrence Quintano.

The lawyers were asking for a 10 to 12 year jail term which the Attorney General refused to accept.

As expected, Desira pleaded guilty to the charges of conspiracy to import two kilogrammes of cocaine, and during pre-sentencing submissions before Mr Justice Quintano, lawyers Joseph Giglio and Stephen Tonna Lowell stuck to their plea for a 10 to 12-year jail term.

The prosecution in Desira's trial led by lawyers Aaron Bugeja and Giannella Busuttil who appeared on behalf of the Attorney General, stressed that Desira deserved more than 10 to 12 years.

Desira was subsequently jailed for 18 years and fined almost €50,000 by Judge Quintano.

The judgment handed to Desira falls within the parameters of the law, albeit the maximum sentence on conspiracy to import and traffic drugs carries a maximum of life in prison.