The defendant became a member of a criminal organization formed by V.J., which aim was to commit crimes that are punishable by law with a prison sentence of minimum 4 years. They personally or through other members of the organization recruited persons in order to gain illegal profit and power. Each member had a specific task and everyone was responsible of their own actions, aware that they were illegal. The defendant, as the organizer of a criminal group planned the commission of the future criminal offences such as unlawful possession of weapons and explosive substances referred to in Article, paragraph 3 in conjunction with paragraph 2 and 1 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs referred to in Article 300 of the Criminal Code. He was giving instructions and orders to the other members of the criminal organization to commit criminal offences, recruit members, to commit criminal offences himself, as well as to organize and coordinate the activities of the members of the criminal organization for committing criminal offences.
The defendant V. D., undertook to act on orders and instructions of members of the criminal organization, to conceal, transport, store and sell firearms for needs of the criminal organization, to deliver them to other members of the criminal organization when required to do so, and to commit criminal offences himself. In order to implement the criminal plan, in the period from March 2018 to 15 August 2018 in Podgorica, being aware that his actions were illegal, he unlawfully acquired and held a large quantity of weapons and ammunition by acquiring from an unknown person, contrary to Article 23 and Article 5 in conjunction with Article 4, paragraph 2, item 2 of the Law on Weapons, weapons whose possession is prohibited to citizens, such as: a France Police pistol, 7.65 caliber, serial No. ..., hunting rifle of an unknown manufacturer, serial No. ..., 101 rounds for 7.62 mm caliber automatic rifle, one 7.9 mm caliber round, 10 pieces of 7.65 mm caliber pistol ammunition, one clip for automatic rifle M-70, one automatic rifle manufactured by T... and one automatic rifle manufactured by K..., keeping those weapons and ammunition in his apartment and his parents’ apartment.
Seizure of the gun and ammunition.
The defendant in late 2017 in Podgorica, together with M. A. and S. F., being aware that his action was illegal, accepted membership and became a member of a criminal organization formed by V. J., which aimed to commit crimes punishable by law by a prison sentence for a term of four years or more. In this organization, they recruited persons, either personally or through other members of the organization, who accepted membership in it in order to gain illegal profit and power, where each member of the criminal organization had a predetermined task and role, and the activities of the criminal organization were planned for a long time with the application of specific rules of internal control and discipline of members. The defendant V. D., undertook to act on orders and instructions of members of the criminal organization, to conceal, transport, store and sell firearms for needs of the criminal organization, and to deliver them to other members of the criminal organization when required to do so, and to commit criminal offences himself, which is how he committed a criminal offence of forming a criminal organization referred to in Article 401a, paragraph 2 in conjunction with paragraph 1 and 6 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
The criminal offence of unlawful possession of weapons and explosive substances, Article 403, paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code.
The criminal offence of forming a criminal organization referred to in Article 401a, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code.
Article 403
Unauthorized manufacture, possession, mediation and trade in weapons or explosive materials
(3) Where the object of the offences set forth in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article is a larger quantity of weapons or instruments or where it concerns a weapon or other instruments of large destructive power, the perpetrator shall be punished by a prison sentence for a term from one to eight years.
From the content of the evidence, presented without any objections by the defendant and his defense counsel, it stems that the special state prosecutor provided sufficient evidence of the guilt of defendant V. D., so the court, having fully accepted the plea bargain agreement, determines that the defendant committed, at the time and in the manner described in the disposition of the judgment, the criminal offence of forming a criminal organization referred to in Article 401a, paragraph 2 in conjunction with para. 1 and 6 of the Criminal Code, and the criminal offence of unlawful possession of weapons and explosive substances referred to in Article 403, paragraph 3 in conjunction with para. 1 and 2 of the Criminal Code, so the court found him guilty and sentenced him to a single prison sentence for a term of 4 (four) months...
Deciding on the stated criminal sanction, the court mitigated it in severity, pursuant to Art. 45 and 46 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, considering as an aggravating circumstance his previous conviction, while considering his clear and complete confession by which the defendant unequivocally explained all decisive facts relating to the offence and guilt, the fact that he was a young man and that his family situation was such that he was married and had two minor children as the mitigating circumstances, and given that these circumstances are particularly mitigating and are of such a nature that in this particular case even the reduced sentence would meet the purpose of punishment referred to in Article 32 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, within the general purpose of imposing criminal sanctions referred to in Article 4, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code...
The defendant from March 2018 to 15 August 2018 in Podgorica unlawfully acquired and held large quantity of weapons and ammunition from an unknown person, contrary to Article 23 and Article 5 in conjunction with Article 4, paragraph 2, item 2 of the Law on Weapons. In his and his parent's apartment the police found: France Police pistol, 7.65 caliber, serial no. ..., hunting rifle of an unknown manufacturer, serial no. ..., 101 rounds for 7.62 mm caliber automatic rifle, one 7.9 mm caliber round, 10 pieces of 7.65 mm caliber pistol ammunition, one clip for automatic rifle M-70, one automatic rifle manufactured by T... and one automatic rifle manufactured by K..., committing the criminal offence of unlawful possession of weapons and explosive substances referred to in Article 403, paragraph 3 in conjunction with paragraph 1 and 2 of the Criminal Code.
High Court in Podgorica
This verdict is obtained from the official web site of the High Court in Podgorica.
The Special State Prosecution Office concluded a plea bargain agreement with the other defendant, also a member of the criminal organization. The convict was also charged with the criminal offences of forming a criminal organization and the most severe form of the criminal offence of unlawful possession of weapons and explosive substances. This defendant also admitted that he became a member of the criminal organization, that he recruited other persons who accepted membership in the organization established for the purpose of committing an indefinite number of criminal offences of unlawful possession of weapons and explosive substances and unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs. He admitted that he acted on the orders and instructions of the members of the criminal organization to conceal, transport, store and sell firearms for the needs of the criminal organization, as well as to deliver them to other members of the criminal organization upon their request and to commit criminal offences himself. Furthermore, the defendant admitted that he acquired, from an unknown person, and then kept and stored a large quantity of weapons, namely a pistol, a hunting rifle, two automatic rifles and a large quantity of ammunition. It is important to point out that the weapons and ammunition were found with the defendant and confiscated before his confession.
The High Court in Podgorica accepted the plea bargain agreement and rendered a judgment, considering as an aggravating circumstance the defendant’s previous conviction. The confession of this defendant is not clear and complete, and does not reveal all the decisive facts. This is yet another defendant who did not reveal from whom and under what conditions he acquired a large quantity of weapons, for what purpose the weapons were intended and so on.