Two Swiss men arraigned in drug case
New York. Thomas Frischknecht (photo) and Andrea V., two Swiss citizen who were extradited to the U.S. on August 24, were arraigned on Tuesday September 4 in a U.S. federal court in Alexandria. Frischknecht, a former professional bike rider, and his friend wore a green prison jumpsuit when they faced judge Gerald Bruce Lee, who is presiding over the case. They were charged with three counts of conspiracy to import and distribute ecstasy and one count of distribution of ecstasy. Both men who claim to be the victim of a plot by a U.S. undercover agent, appeared in court with their public defenders and an interpreter. They plead not guilty at their arraignment. “It is hard to tell how much time behind bars they could be looking at, said Scott Brisendine, Mr V.’s court-appointed lawyer. We have to wait for the prosecutor to give us his case against the two men. But I have to say that they were very low in the chain of everything”. Both men could technically face life in prison if convicted on all four charges. But according to Mr Brisendine, Mr. Frischknecht and Mr V. could be looking at 5 years in prison if they were prosecuted to the full amount of the charges. Mr V. seemed “in good spirits”, his lawyer said. “He had questions about the legal proceedings here in the U.S. but he seemed to be handling the situation pretty well”, Mr Brisendine added. “Mr Frischknecht is doing well, said Robert Jenkins, Mr Frischknecht’s court-appointed lawyer. He is in good spirits despite the fact that he has not been in touch with his family since he was extradited to the US on August 24″. Mr Jenkins said he would fight the case because his client’s arrest in the Netherlands raised “serious legal issues”. “There is certain evidence that Mr Frischknecht and Mr V.were framed, Mr Jenkins added. There is also certain evidence that the arrest was contrary to Dutch law and to U.S. law as well”. The lawyer said he would make sure that tapes of the arrest of both men in Amsterdam could not be used against his client. The Dutch Justice minister only agreed to Mr Frischknecht’s and Mr V.’s extradition on the condition that the tapes would not be used. The trial date has been set for November 5 in the same courthouse where French citizen Zacarias Moussaoui was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the September 11 attacks. But it is unclear at that point if the case will go to trial. It will mainly depend the outcome of negotiations between the prosecutor and the lawyers for Mr Frischknecht and V.. The caseThomas Frischknecht and Andrea V. were arrested on June 1 2006 in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) as part of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s “Operation Director’s Cut” after a two-year undercover investigation into international money laundering. That same day, Alexandre de Basseville, 36, of Los Angeles, California, and Geneva, and Bruno Cavelier d’Esclavelles, 45, of Los Angeles, were caught in a hotel in Arlington. According to US authorities, de Basseville and d’Esclavelles arranged in February 2006 the shipment to the United States of a package containing 10,000 Ecstasy pills obtained in the Netherlands and sent by Mr Frischknecht and Mr V. de Basseville plead guilty and was sentenced on January 8 to 240 months in prison. d’Esclavelles will spend the next 15 years of his life in a federal penitentiary. CommentsYou must be logged in to post a comment. |
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