A man linked to a cocaine deal over twelve years ago has been sentenced to 13 years in prison after being convicted by a jury.

Kofi Otule Friday will serve that sentence for his role in an August 2009 drug deal that was busted by the police as it happened. 

On August 26, 2009 Tony Johnson collected 1kg of cocaine from Friday’s St Paul’s Bay home and took it to the Marsa Open Centre, where he met up with Austin Uche.

The two went to the Għajn Dwieli area of Paola, where the planned drug sale was to take place. But the deal was busted by members of the police's drug squad, who had been keeping a close watch on the suspects’ movements.

A black bag that Johnson and Uche were carrying turned out to contain 949.13 grams of cocaine of 33.7% purity, with an estimated street value of €72,134.

Johnson was sentenced to nine years in prison and fined €30,000 after being found guilty in 2013. Uche registered a guilty plea and was condemned to a five-year jail term and a €7,000 fine in 2020. 

Following a four-day trial that was presided over by Mr Justice Aaron Bugeja, the jurors in Friday’s case reached a guilty verdict of seven votes against two. 

Defence lawyer Simon Micallef Stafrace argued that pointed out that 11 years had lapsed since Friday’s arraignment, arguing that it was “completely wrong” for the prosecution to take so long and highlighting that this was “to the detriment of justice.”

He also drew a parallel to Uche’s case and the punishment imposed in that case.

However, the judge pointed out that Uche had registered an admission and had only been charged with conspiracy to deal in cocaine, unlike Friday who was also accused of supplying and distributing the drug.

On the strength of case law, the lapse of time since arraignment did not “on its own justify a shorter prison term,” observed the court, making reference to similar cases and noting further that this trial had not ended in a minimum verdict. 

When all was considered, the Court condemned Friday to a jail term of 13 years and a €30,000 fine, as well as one-third of the legal costs which amounted to €843.

The court also ordered forfeiture of all property of the accused in favour of the government and also the destruction of the drugs involved.