Godfrey Ellul was yesterday jailed for 20 years and fined Lm20,000 for conspiring to deal in drugs.
Jurors returned a guilty verdict on all three counts, by eight votes to one on conspiracy and cocaine possession and by seven votes to two on heroin possession in circumstances denoting it was not for his personal use.
The verdict, after just two hours of deliberations, brought the trial to a close in just under a week and inferred that jurors dismissed Ellul's claim that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time under the wrong circumstances.
The case of the prosecution was based on its claim that Ellul, 54, of St Julian's and a man, XY, (whose name cannot be published by court order) met each other in February 1997 and as their friendship evolved, they began to learn about each other's drug habits.
They both took cocaine but Ellul also used heroin and dealt in drugs.
On March 2, 1997, Ellul went to XY's house in Zurrieq with a bag of cocaine and heroin.
The two men agreed to keep the bag at XY's house and Ellul would go to the house to help XY divide the drugs into sachets and sell them. They also agreed to hide the sachets in different parts of the house, the bill of indictment claimed.
Police were tipped off anonymously on March 6, 1997, at about 6 p.m. and raided the house. Inside they found XY and Joanne Vella, who had accompanied Ellul to XY's house so that they could prepare the sachets.
Ellul escaped from the back of the house, jumping from some height and injuring himself in the process. He was eventually taken to hospital.
Police searched the house where they found a plastic bag filled with heroin, 25 sachets of heroin and a sachet of cocaine which Ellul had just made use of. Police also found other drug-related items.
The next day, police searched the area where Ellul was found and discovered 15 sachets of heroin, a small quantity of cocaine and a small bottle with a white liquid used in drug abuse, the bill claimed.
But Ellul claimed he was at the wrong place at the wrong time under the wrong circumstances when he was arrested by police after falling a height of three storeys in his bid to escape them.
He took the witness stand in his defence and told jurors he had had absolutely nothing to do with whatever had been going on in the flat and had been inside just three minutes when the police raided the place.
He said he had gone inside the flat only to hurry Vella, whom he had driven there, because he wanted to return home before his wife realised he had gone out, and had panicked when he realised his friend and the flat owner were doing drugs and tried to escape.
Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono yesterday noted the verdict, coupled with a unanimous verdict on a relapsing charge which Ellul did not contest, the amount of drugs involved and the seriousness of the charges and Ellul's criminal record.
He said he was also noting that the prosecution had dealt with XY differently in separate proceedings, the fact that the verdict was not unanimous and that Ellul had breached the conditions of a probation order.
He ordered the seizure of all Ellul's assets and the destruction of the drugs and related items exhibited in the proceedings.
Mr Justice Galea Debono also ordered that Ellul be sent before the Magistrates' Court to answer for the breach of the probation order.
Senior counsel for the republic Dr Mark Said prosecuted.
Dr Joseph Brincat was counsel to Ellul.