Dealer gets off lightly

Snowfall in Burgenland: Don Pablo stays put

The self-proclaimed Don Pablo, accompanied by lawyer David Jodlbauer, marches to the trial. And then it's back to the cell.

(Bild: Diverse Fotografen honorarfrei/HS, Krone KREATIV)

This cocaine dealer is known as the "Don Pablo of southern Burgenland", and he himself has nothing against this description. The man received a prison sentence of several years at Eisenstadt Regional Court.

The corridor at Eisenstadt provincial court was packed with drug addicts and dealers. So who will be called to testify next?

Of course, they are eyeing the guy who is brought in from custody. In handcuffs. Look here, the Don Pablo of southern Burgenland! Has he lost weight in custody? The man nods kindly to his relevant acquaintances, no, I don't have anything for you today, sorry.

Whether underage apprentice, student, employee, entrepreneur, pensioner or unemployed - no one really wanted to remember the encounters with Don Pablo, not surprisingly, almost all of them had already had their own criminal proceedings for drug-related offenses on their necks.

"In Mexico you would have already been ..."
Some of the customers got the cocaine from Don Pablo, a married family man in his early 40s, on credit and therefore had to run up debts. If the payments didn't materialize, the dealer would say things like: "I can't take a joke anymore. In Mexico, you would have been set on fire on a pile of tires. Watch, because otherwise ...!" This is documented.

"Just go and deal!"
One of the main witnesses for the prosecution had even accumulated a mountain of debt amounting to a whopping 27,000 euros. Therefore, he said in court, he was supposed to work as a sub-dealer on behalf of Don Pablo and supply cocaine to consumers in the vicinity of his home.

In the closing statement, the public prosecutor demanded a punishment commensurate with guilt and the offense for 1.8 kilos of cocaine including a forfeiture of 167,015 euros. Judge Melanie Gschiel did not comply with this. She reduced the amount of cocaine to 1.33 kilos in favor of the defendant and the forfeiture amount to 80,000 euros as part of a guilty verdict.

Holiday for the lawyer
With a range of 1 to 15 years, the panel of lay judges finally imposed a smart three and a half years in prison, even though the legal drug limit had been exceeded by a factor of 71. The sentence is final. Don Pablo's lawyer, David Jodlbauer, can celebrate.

 His client will probably be toasting him in prison.