Man gets life for selling .01 gram of shabu

MANILA, Philippines - A Parañaque judge has sentenced a former forklift operator to life in prison after he was caught selling 0.01 gram of shabu in a sting operation in 2009.

Regional Trial Court Branch 259 Judge Danilo Suarez also ordered Rodrigo Conche to be transferred from the city jail to the state penitentiary in Muntinlupa City and to pay a fine of P500,000.

Conche was nabbed by undercover police officers in front of his house in Lim Compound, Barangay San Dionisio for selling the .01 gram of shabu for P500 on Dec. 17, 2009.

Conche denied the charges and claimed that his arrest was a case of mistaken identity. He added that he was fixing his motorcycle when police officers handcuffed and frisked him, then “forced” him to admit owning the P500 marked money.

The judge dismissed Conche’s explanation as “a mere allegation by the accused unsupported by facts.” Suarez noted inconsistencies in the testimonies of witnesses Conche’s camp produced – his neighbor, Benjamin Ditoperez, said only one person approached Conche; his father-in-law, Dionisio Labayo Jr., said two men approached; while Conche himself said several men apprehended him.