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Three men sentenced for smuggling whisky

The 5th Federal Court of Novo Hamburgo convicted three men of smuggling whiskey from Uruguay. One of them was also sentenced for corruption. The sentence, published on April 12, was handed down by Judge Maria Angélica Carrard Benites.

 

Author of the action, the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) reported that on June 29th, 2019, the Military Brigade of the Rio Grande do Sul municipality of Pântano Grande received a communication that two vehicles parked on ERS-471 were engaging in suspicious activity. During the approach, the truck driver and the man accompanying him admitted that they were transporting liquor purchased in Uruguay and that it would belong to the man who had been accompanying them, during the displacement, in the car.

 

According to the MPF, more than 4,200 bottles of whiskey were found, evaluated by the Federal Revenue Office with a customs value of more than BRL 290,000, having evaded more than BRL 200,000 in federal taxes. The alleged owner of the products, to try to get rid of criminal liability, offered the police officers money and computers. After the refusal of the agents, he insisted by offering half the load of beverages.

 

In his defense, the man accused of being the owner of the whiskey sustained that there is no evidence that he acted as a scout for the illicit cargo and offered undue advantage. The truck driver and the man who was with him also argued for the absence of evidence and that they had no knowledge of the contents in the trunk.

 

In analyzing the evidence attached to the case, the magistrate understood that “the version presented by the police officers heard, and supported by the prosecution, is quite consistent, while the statements of the three defendants diverge and are conflicting at various points. According to her, “the defensive thesis, devoid of any foundation, allows any carrier of goods, ammunition, medicines or even drugs, to claim ignorance of the content to rule out the subjective criminal type, implying safe conduct to all trafficking of illegal goods.

 

For her, “the willfulness in conduct is undoubted and is evidenced by the free and conscious will of all to practice the criminal conduct” both the owner of the drinks as those who transported the illegal cargo. In relation to the charge of corruption, Benites concluded that “the mere denial of the defendant is insufficient to remove the appropriate set of evidence on which the criminal action is supported. That is, it is clear that the defense did not bring sufficient corroborative documents to support the denial of crime sustained in the interrogation.

 

She sentenced the defendants to imprisonment for three years and eight months for the owner of the whisky and one year and two months for the driver and his companion. The restrictive liberty penalty was substituted by pecuniary benefit of ten and five minimum wages and rendering of services to the community or public entity.

 

The magistrate highlighted that the “inability to drive a motor vehicle constitutes an effect of the conviction applicable to cases in which the agent uses the vehicle as a means to commit an intentional crime”. This rule should not apply, however, to those who exercise the profession of driver. Thus, with the exception of the defendant who drove the truck, the other two, after the sentence has become final and unappealable, will not be allowed to drive a motor vehicle for the duration of the sentence imposed.

 

Benites also ordered the confiscation of the drinks, mobile phones and the truck because they were used as instruments for the criminal practice. The decision can be appealed to TRF4.

Source: https://www.trf4.jus.br/trf4/controlador.php?acao=noticia_visualizar&id_noticia=26918

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