The crimes are similar, the punishments are completely different: the family of the doctors sat behind bars for a long time and a policeman who did the same remained at large.

Dangis Daktis from Šiauliai, together with his wife Indre Daktariene and their mother Irena Daktariene, set up a laboratory in the attic of the house in September 2018, where they grew 84 cannabis plants. The harvest was then collected and hung to dry in the same attic where everything was found by the agents who carried out the search. Not only that, during the implementation of their project, the family also obtained electricity for almost 7 thousand. euros.

The Šiauliai Regional Court sentenced D. Daktar, who had been sentenced twice before, to 12 years in prison for growing drugs, disposing of them for distribution and stealing electricity. His wife, who has never had a problem with law enforcement, will have to spend 6 years behind bars, and the court of honorable age Irena Daktarienė took pity and only restricted her freedom.

In 2019, Panevėžys elite forensic scientist Vaidas Oftas, who fought against drug distribution, also came up with the idea of ​​profiting from cannabis cultivation. Together with 3 childhood friends, he grew 78 marijuana plants on a farm in Kelmė district.

The quartet could not harvest because they got stuck in the police. However, the officials themselves then dried everything and received almost 2 kg of cannabis to smoke.

Still, in this story, cannabis growers have gotten away with it very easily. Mr. Offt himself served his 1-year prison sentence, during which time he was forbidden to possess or use drugs and to continue working.

His two accomplices, Gediminas Bračkus and Valdas Noreika, have been sentenced to prison, but will not be imprisoned because their execution has been delayed. Liutauras Dirgėla, who also participated in this crime, has been released from criminal responsibility on bail.

Thousands invested

Before his trial, V. Oft said that the plan to grow cannabis was born while he was speaking with his childhood friend G. Bračkus.

“We just wanted to grow them,” Offt said. – The cultivation required about 5 thousand. euros. I myself had 2 or 3 thousand. EUR. “

The mourners borrowed the missing amount to invest in growing cannabis from acquaintances and even took out loans, and then began to implement their plan.

“We agreed that it is necessary to install premises, buy land, buy lamps, seeds. Also, we needed someone to take care of everything, so we invited V. Noreik. G. Bračkus knew L. Dirgėlis, who knew how cannabis is grown ”, V. Oftas recalled the beginning of the crime.

L. Dirgėla took charge of the cultivation process and started looking for seeds. Having found on the Internet where to buy them, in order to avoid law enforcement, he decided to send them to a post office in Poland and take them home from there by car.

“They gave me 350 euros for seeds and another 50 euros for fuel. I asked for them, but when I went to Poland I was scared for some reason, so I threw them away. After that, I bought them for 50 euros only in Lithuania from an acquaintance”, L. Dirgėla said.

A professional cannabis laboratory was installed in the outbuilding of the farm owned by G. Bračkas. The pickers planned to harvest in March 2020, but did not do so because they were detained 4 months later.

Mr. Offt himself claimed at all times that he would not benefit from this crime, but his other co-workers said otherwise.

“There was talk of remuneration when cannabis grows and is sold,” admitted G. Bračkus in court, adding. – At first everything was safe, then V.Oft began to throw, he saw that he had no plans, he had doubts about the breeding process itself, he felt that he did not know why and whom, the rats began to attack. We do not estimate that it would take that long, labor costs, maintenance. “

Despite the court’s unequivocal finding that cannabis was grown for profit, the defendants were not even charged with a crime that could send them behind bars for a long time: drug distribution.

All of them were convicted solely under article 265 of the Penal Code, which establishes responsibility for the illegal cultivation of cannabis or poppies. This is considered a felony for which a court can impose a fine, arrest, public works, deprivation of liberty or imprisonment for up to 5 years.

True, while growing cannabis, a seedling broke, so G. Bričkus and V. Noreika took it home and hung it in the closet to dry and smoke. For these 7 grams of cannabis, they were convicted of illegal drug possession.

The crime is similar, the verdict is completely different

The Doctor family, who had implemented a very similar plan, caught up with the police at a later stage in their education. They had managed to grow 84 plants, cut them and hang them to dry in the attic of the house. So they tried to produce almost 3 kg of cannabis.

That is why the family has been accused of not only growing cannabis illegally, but also producing it for distribution purposes.

According to jurisprudence, the production of narcotic drugs is an active process aimed at extracting intoxicating substances from a plant (cannabis) by any means, such as processes of cutting, sorting, crushing, drying, etc .; production as a process is considered completed when any quantity of narcotic or psychotropic substance suitable for consumption (intoxication) is produced, but the termination of production does not have the effect of incurring criminal liability under article 260 of the CC “, the Šiauliai Regional Court ruled.

It is true that Sky Doctor in court with his wife categorically defended himself against not planning to sell the cultivated drugs, but such a version did not convince the judges.

It was noted that they found 5 plastic bags in which the experts found marijuana residues, in addition to scales, gloves and 101 empty bags. Additionally, Dr. D. has previously been convicted of drug-related offenses.

“So, a considerable amount of drugs was found, compressible bags were found, 5 units. the plastic bags already used, which already contained cannabis, and the other data mentioned above confirm that the drugs found during the search were kept for distribution purposes, and not just for own use. At the same time, it should be noted that the fact that ID does not use drugs also reinforces the conclusion that the latter kept the drugs for distribution purposes, ”the court ruled.

The decision surprised

V. Offt not only received light punishment, but was also acquitted of various other crimes. Prosecutors tried to convict him of abusing the service to show that he had used police knowledge to grow cannabis, train his comrades in conspiracies, such as ordering correspondence only through the Telegram app, and constantly checking his cars for trackers.

Furthermore, according to the indictment, he, as an official, was obliged to prevent the crime from being committed. However, this did not seem logical to the court.

“In the present case, there is no legal basis to affirm that V. Offt committed the criminal act specified in the exercise of his office or official powers, used or did not use the duties and powers that were granted to him against the interests of the Service. In doing so, you did not perform your direct duties as a police officer. It is not possible to require a police officer to prevent or expose his own crime, such as, in this case, the illicit cultivation of cannabis, and then declare that he has abused his service without revealing such a crime, since, as has already been said, mentioned, said conduct is not directly related to the powers or performance of functions of a public servant, it will not be considered an abuse of office and will be classified as an autonomous crime according to with other articles of the CC ”, affirmed the court.

In addition, psychotropic drugs were found during Mr. Oft’s work during the search, but he said it was unimaginable how they appeared there. The judge believed the defendant’s position and acquitted him of illegal drug possession.

Such a decision and lenient sentences surprised some politicians and lawyers. According to Morgana Danielė, a member of the Seimas that fights for the decriminalization of drugs, on the one hand it seeks the imposition of non-custodial penalties for non-violent crimes. However, he added that in this particular case applications of double standards can be seen.

“Although the court determined that the VO working at the Panevėžys AVPK Organized Crime Investigation Board was” the inventor and active perpetrator of this crime “and” had the idea of ​​growing cannabis and making money from its sale, “the court It did not see illegal drug elimination and abuse. Formally, everything is fine, but the feeling of injustice remains when you know it in 2020. 73 people were sentenced to prison for possession of drugs without distribution purpose, “he shared his thought.

It also seemed strange to the lawyers who interacted with Delfi that in the present case there had not even been an attempt to accuse the manufacture of drugs for distribution purposes, although there was evidence in the case that suggested this.