|
|
 berlin robbers sentenced
German article (with pictures):
Berlin: Pokerräuber zu mehrjährigen Haftstrafen verurteilt - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Nachrichten - Panorama
It reads:
Judgment has been given in the trial against the Berlin pokerrobbers. The Berlin County Court has given to the four men between 19 and 21 years of age perennial prison sentences for armed robbery and inflicting serious bodily harm.
Berlin - The Youth Criminal division of the Berlin County Court (Editor's note: in Germany criminals between the age of 18 and 21, by estimate of the court, can be tried by youth criminal law, as they are in the "process of growing up") had demanded 4-5 year prison sentences, while the defense council asked for considerably weaker prison and probation sentences.
On March 6 the four armed and masked men had robbed Germany's biggest Poker tournament in a Berlin luxury hotel at Potsdamer Platz and got away with approximately 240.000 €. The suspects' family all have an immigration background. The suspects were in pre-trail custody already two weeks after the robbery. A 28-year old motorcar-mechanic was also captured. He allegedly planned the robbery and drove the get-away vehicle.
A 21-year old was released at the end of march on certain conditions. He made an extense confession to the Police whereby incriminating his accomplices. Since his confession was decisive in resolving the crime, he was able to take advantage of the leniency policy for principal witnesses. Accordingly his sentence is likely to be considerably diminished.
The bigger part of the money is missing to this day. Trial against two other alleged accomplices (Editor's note: supposedly the "brains" behind the thing) of the coup is due to start in August.
|
Reply With Quote
