In the Third Provincial Court, a sentence was handed down this Thursday: a man received three years and ten months of imprisonment. A General Hospital nurse assistant from Alicante and another defendant faced judgment after pleading guilty to involvement with a psychotropic drug at the center for nearly two years. The primary defendant, already faced with multiple prior convictions for theft and trafficking in psychotropic substances, dealt the drug to an acquaintance who later distributed it to others as a drug for third parties. The Third Chamber President endorsed the factual account and imposed the corresponding penalties on both the healthcare worker and the co-defendant who received fourteen months in prison for selling stolen drugs and for associated activities such as acceptance and smuggling of psychotropic substances. Both defendants were ordered to compensate Alicante General Hospital about 700 euros. Although funds were deposited to cover the stolen drugs before the trial, the court recognized compensation for the damage as a mitigating factor in the sentence.
Two years The accusations put forward by the prosecutor’s office, which the nurse assistant acknowledged during yesterday’s hearing, pertain to a period from February 2017 to February 2019. A total of 135 injectable vials, a drug used in hospital anesthesia and listed as a psychotropic substance due to its active ingredient, ketamine, were involved. The nursing assistant is said to have sold each vial for 15 euros. The second defendant, a close friend, purchased them and resold them at 35 euros per vial, despite being aware of their illicit origin.
The initial request from the prosecution called for a total sentence of ten and a half years in prison. The healthcare worker faced charges of forcible robbery and psychotropic substance smuggling, along with aggravating circumstances tied to carrying out acts in a public setting. A separate request for the second defendant comprised five years and nine months for purchases and sales of psychotropic substances. The statements from both defendants were accepted by the prosecutor after the admissions of guilt. The Public Prosecutor’s Office then reduced the requested penalties by applying mitigating factors. Damages were to be repaired and delays in the process acknowledged. It was noted that the defendant who resold the drugs held a high level of sophistication and was suspected of drug addiction. [Citation: Alicante General Hospital records and court proceedings, 2024.]