This is a harsh verdict. By handing down prison sentences against four of the six defendants in the trial of the Pogba affair, Thursday, December 19, the judge had a heavy hand. The five ex-childhood friends or acquaintances of the footballer, who appeared for attempted extortion, kidnapping and kidnapping, and criminal association, were found guilty of the facts for which they appeared before the 16e room of the Paris court. They receive sentences of five to eight years’ imprisonment, as well as fines of 20,000 to 40,000 euros. Only one of them escapes prison, with an arrangement under electronic surveillance.
Mathias Pogba, older brother of the former champion, was found guilty of attempted extortion and sentenced to three years in prison, two of which were suspended. Having already been imprisoned, he will serve his remaining sentence under an electronic bracelet. The judge followed the prosecution’s requisitions, increasing the required sentence, at least for one defendant.
Prison sentences were handed down against Roushdane K., considered the mastermind of the affair, the only one to appear detained, and Adama C., childhood friend of Paul Pogba: eight years for the first, five years for the second, with immediate committal warrant.
As regards Mamadou M. and Boubacar C., the prison sentences of five years and four years respectively are accompanied by suspended sentences: one year for the first, two years for the second.
Sentenced to four years in prison, three of which were suspended, Machikour K. will be the only one in the group to serve his sentence under electronic surveillance.
The reasons for the judgment have not yet been made public, due to lack of time, and have been postponed until early January. But, in the eyes of the judge, there seems to have been little doubt that the group of “friends” of Paul Pogba, all from the town of La Renardière in Roissy-en-Brie (Seine-et-Marne) , planned and organized an ambush to scare the player and extort a large sum of money from him.
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