During 2022, the High Court in Podgorica had 29 plea agreements concluded by the accused with the special state prosecutor, and 67 plea agreements for crimes that were not the subject of the SDT.
An independent consultant for public relations told "Vijesti" that Aida Hajdarpašić.
The agreements concluded by the defendants with the special state prosecutor are registered as "KS" and the others as "K" cases.
"A total of 10 agreements in 'K' cases and 1 agreement in 'K' cases were rejected. Compared to the previous year, the number of submitted plea agreements has decreased. During 2020, 64 plea agreements were submitted in 'K' cases and 67 plea agreements in 'K' cases. During 2021, 56 plea agreements in 'K' cases and 70 plea agreements in 'K' cases were submitted," said Hajdarpašić.
As explained, the court does not keep statistics for which criminal offenses the defendants were accused of and then pleaded guilty to, as well as to which punishments they agreed to be sentenced, voluntarily renouncing the trial and the right to appeal.
Also, there is no information about which of the defendants concluded a plea agreement with the prosecution, and then the court rejected it, and for what reason.
However, data on final verdicts, including those based on guilty pleas, can be found on the website of the High Court.
In September 2021, the High Court issued a verdict in which the defendant KM was convicted on the basis of a guilty plea, for the commission of a criminal offense - unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs.
The Prosecution submitted to the court the plea agreement, the minutes of negotiations and the minutes of the accused's admission of guilt.
The court sentenced the defendant to one year and nine months in prison for smuggling around 35 kilograms of marijuana.
"He is guilty because on February 26, 2, he illegally transported the narcotic drug marijuana for sale from the town of Milješ to the town of Tuzi. By transporting in the vehicle he was driving, for resale, the narcotic drug marijuana, which contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in a concentration above 2021%, packed in two larger PVC packages, with a total net weight of 0,2 kg, which narcotic drug was in the trunk of the vehicle," the verdict states.
And the judgment handed down in October 2021 also referred to a plea agreement for the criminal offense of drug trafficking.
The accused ZM was declared guilty because on January 30, 2021, in Bar, on a regional road, he transported marijuana for sale - by having 30 large PVC packages in the vehicle he was driving, with a total weight of 152.835 kilograms.
The drug, it says, was in the back of the vehicle and in front of the passenger seat, which he had previously taken in the town of Virpazar and headed in the direction of Podgorica.
"The accused GIVES intentionally helped the accused ZM in the commission of a criminal offense... by moving in front of the vehicle driven by ZM and informing him by telephone about police patrols on the road from Virpazar to Podgorica, in order to enable him to pass unhindered. The accused ZM was sentenced to two years in prison, while the accused DA was sentenced to ten months in prison. A fine of 5.000 euros was imposed on him as a minor penalty.
The other verdicts that Vijesti had access to also refer to the criminal offense of selling drugs - cocaine, heroin and marijuana.
Special subjects
When it comes to special cases in the field of organized crime, in June 2020, the accused OA he was sentenced to 11 months in prison for the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization and unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs...
It was ruled that he is guilty because during 2019 he transported 43.013 kg of the intoxicating drug marijuana - hemp for sale.
"He was sentenced to a single prison term of eleven months. At the hearing, the court undoubtedly determined that the accused consciously and voluntarily confessed to the criminal acts that are the subject of the accusation and that the possibility of a mistaken confession was excluded.
On the website of the Special State Prosecutor's Office and the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica, plea agreements, as well as verdicts, have been published, by date of conclusion.
From December 29, 2021 to July 19, 2022, the Higher State Prosecutor's Office concluded 31 plea agreements, noting that it was adopted by a decision and then by a verdict of the High Court in Podgorica.
Criminal offenses of drug smuggling, i.e. marijuana, mostly dominate.
By the verdict based on the guilty plea dated July 19, 2022, VD was convicted because he admitted to transporting marijuana in his passenger vehicle in July 2021.
In the trunk, as it says, there were five passenger bags with about 62 kg of "grass", which he was transporting for a cash sum of 2.000 euros.
The state prosecutor at the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica and the defendant VD agreed that for this he should be sentenced to one year and four months in prison, and as a secondary fine in the amount of 4.000 euros.
And the defendant ZN he admitted, it is stated, that he sold cocaine from the end of June to the middle of September 2021.
In that period, it is explained that he sold that drug twice to persons unknown in amounts of 0,5 grams each for monetary amounts of 50 euros each.
He was sentenced to seven months in prison and given a secondary fine of 2.000 euros.
Albanian citizen defendant PS he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for smuggling three and a half kilograms of cocaine
It is stated that he admitted that on November 29, 2021, he brought that drug into Montenegro without authorization from Albania. The verdict was pronounced on April 28, 2022.
"The defendant was driving a 'Volkswagen' vehicle... in a specially made partition between the backrest of the back seat and the cargo area of the trunk, he was secretly transporting 35 packages of the narcotic drug cocaine with a total net weight of 35.071,8 grams. In addition to imprisonment, a fine in the amount of twenty thousand euros was imposed as a secondary punishment. His vehicle was also confiscated... as an object of the criminal act".
On the website of the Special State Prosecutor's Office, it was announced that from December 29, 2021 to May 12, 2022, 12 verdicts were handed down based on plea agreements.
Based on the guilty plea, the High Court in Podgorica sentenced the defendant on May 11, 2022. RS to a single five-year prison sentence for the criminal offenses of creating a criminal organization and unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs.
The defendant RS was accused of becoming a member of a criminal organization organized by the defendants in Montenegro at the beginning of March 2018. NT i DV to smuggle cocaine from South America to Europe...
"The defendant RS accepted that, using a forged passport of the Republic of Slovenia, he became the owner of a ship used to smuggle cocaine in order to cover up drug smuggling... In the period from April to September 2018, the defendants DV and RS participated in the commission of the crime, and MS i vj, illegally transported 710,538 kilograms of cocaine for sale. In order to cover up the criminal activity of smuggling cocaine, the defendant RS, using the false name MR, became the owner of the ship 'Florida' under a forged passport from Slovenia. The ship 'Florida' loaded with cocaine continued its journey to the Azores Islands, port of Horta, where on September 1, 9, they were stopped by the Portuguese police and a search of the ship found cocaine packed in 2018 packages with a powdery substance, net weight 700 grams.
Agreed on a three-year prison sentence for robbery
Although most of the plea deals relate to drug sales, there are also convictions for the crime of robbery.
In the High Court in Podgorica, on June 14 last year, the defendant DH was sentenced to three years in prison because he admitted that on December 9, 2021, in a group with Š. H. and TN, using force and threats, robbed a jewelry store located in the Porto Montenegro tourist complex.
”The accused TN and Š. H. got out of the vehicle and masked with caps on their heads and masks over their faces entered the said watch store, during which time the defendant DH waited for them in the vehicle... They asked the injured worker JM to show them several types of watches, posing as are customers, and all with the aim of the injured party unlocking the windows where the watches were located, so that at the moment when one of the windows in which the watches of the brand 'Hublot' were located remained open, the defendant TN acted according to the previous agreement and asked the defendant Š. Shall we'. The accused Š. H. threatened the victim by taking out a gun and pointing it in her direction, which caused fear in the victim. They confiscated and appropriated 11 'Hublot' watches, worth more than 66,677.00 euros. The State Prosecutor and the defendant DH agree that the High Court in Podgorica will sentence him to three years and six months in prison. Plea agreements were concluded by TN and Š.H. and were sentenced to three and a half years in prison, or three years and seven months in prison".
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