Russian man who once tried to escape custody by hiding in a ditch sentenced to 7 years in prison for drug possession
Andrei Spiridonov, a Russian man who was arrested back in April for allegedly importing illegal narcotics and managed to escape the Bali Police before being re-apprehended while he was hiding in a ditch, has been sentenced to seven years in prison today.
“[We] sentence the defendant to seven years in prison and a fine of IDR800 million (US$ 56,878),” presiding judge I Dewa Made Budi Watsara said at the Denpasar District Court, as quoted by Detik.
Spiridonov was found guilty of violating Article 111 of Indonesia’s 2009 Law on Narcotics, which carries a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison and a maximum fine of IDR8 billion.
Dewa said the Russian had a few extenuating circumstances, such as his polite behavior during trial and remorse for what he did.
The 36-year-old, who reportedly works as a psychologist, was arrested earlier this year at a post office in Renon, Denpasar, with a package from the Netherlands that contained 200 grams of N-Dimethyltrytamine (DMT), an illegal hallucinogenic narcotic.
He managed to escape from custody through a restroom ventilation, but was re-apprehended less than two days later while covered in leaves and hiding in a ditch.
