A resident of San Andres town has been sentenced to life imprisonment, in addition to over 25 years more in jail after he was found guilty of possession of illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia, maintenance of a drug den and illegal possession of firearm.
The Regional Trial Court also ordered Eduardo Fernandez Capistrano to pay P810,000 in total fines for the drug charges, with the 0.179 gram of methamphetamine hydrochloride and the improvised shotgun confiscated for proper disposal.
Information filed before the Court showed that on April 30, 2015, the police served a search warrant on the accused in his home at barangay Belmonte in the presence of barangay chairman Napoleon Osorio and another official, as well as designated representatives from the media and justice department.
Although the searcher found nothing illegal on the body of Capistrano, a thorough search of the house resulted in the recovery of a medium-sized plastic sachet and a small one, both containing white crystalline granules, six unsealed sachets with residue, another sachet with traces of the same substance, scissors, three empty sachets, a blade, improvised tooter, crumpled aluminum foil, a lighter and the homemade shotgun.
Four of the unsealed sachets with residue proved positive for the presence of shabu along with the medium-and-small sachets, according to a laboratory examination of the evidence at the Regional Crime Laboratory Office.
During the search, just before the police found the sachets of shabu inside a blue plastic bag placed in an ice box used to store laundry, Capistrano escaped by jumping through a sack-covered window in the kitchen but was caught by policemen providing security to the perimeter.
In his defense, Capistrano insinuated that the police had planted the blue plastic bag in the ice box and that a certain Maxel Panti, whom he had asked to sleep in the house while Capistrano worked in a construction project in Caramoran, may have owned the seized items. However, he admitted that he found the homemade shotgun at the construction barracks and brought it home.
Saying that flight is evidence of guilt, RTC Branch 43 Presiding Judge Lelu P. Contreras brushed aside the accused’s claim of planted evidence, noting that it would have been difficult to do in the presence of barangay officials and other witnesses.
It was noted that Osorio and barangay kagawad Nilo Romero had suspected Capistrano of conducting illegal drug activities inside his house and warned him to stop one or two weeks before the police came.
For illegal possession of dangerous drugs, Capistrano was sentenced to suffer imprisonment ranging from 12 years and one day to 14 years, eight months and one day, and to pay a fine of P300,000.
He was also meted a prison term of six months and one day to two years, and to pay a fine of P10,000, for illegal possession of drug paraphernalia.
For maintaining a drug den in his house, Judge Contreras ordered the accused to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment and to pay a P500,000 fine.
Capistrano was also given a prison term of six years, eight months and one day to eight years, eight months and one day for the homemade shotgun offense.