Drug dealer dad caught with a kilo of heroin loses sentence appeal
A Stourbridge father who was caught with a kilo of heroin in the back of a car has lost a Court of Appeal challenge to his sentence.
Elton Hoxha, aged 37, of Wychbury Road, was a passenger in a Vauxhall when it was stopped by police in Lye in January last year.
Officers found two packages of heroin on the back seat, along with three mobile phones and £460 cash on Hoxha himself. At his home, they found £14,000 cash, which he claimed was a present from his father in Albania.
He was convicted of possessing heroin with intent to supply and money laundering at Wolverhampton Crown Court last July.
He claimed his nine-year sentence was too harsh, but top judges in London threw out his 'hopeless' case.
Lord Justice Burnett said the trial judge had heard the evidence and so was in the best position to decide how involved Hoxha was.
The judge had decided that his role was 'significant', despite the fact that his fingerprints were not found on the packages, he told the Court of Appeal.
Hoxha's claim that his role was only a 'lesser' one was unarguable, the appeal judge said, dismissing his challenge.
The court heard Hoxha had previously lodged an appeal against conviction, but had abandoned it.
He applied to reopen that appeal, but Lord Justice Burnett, sitting with Mrs Justice May and Judge Melbourne Inman QC, rejected his case.
Last year, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard how Hoxha was a front seat passenger in the Vauxhall Corsa when it was pulled over by police.
In the back seat was the 1kg haul of heroin in two packages.
Judge Martin Walsh said Hoxha 'no doubt played a significant part' in the acquisition and intended distribution of the heroin.
