Drug kingpin accused couple eye plea deal

Suspected East London drug kingpin Livingstone Napoleon, 60, and his wife Ingrid, 59, want to enter into a plea deal with the state.

The move would see the couple avoiding trial and instead being sentenced for their alleged crimes in the East London Magistrate’s Court.

State advocate Elna Smith yesterday asked East London regional magistrate Nomthandazo Vabaza for a three-month postponement so that the parties could enter into a plea arrangement.

This is where the state would set its terms and if the accused abide by them, the matter would proceed for sentencing. However, if the Napoleons reject the state’s terms, the matter will proceed for trial.

Vabaza granted the postponement and set the matter down for March 2 next year.

The Napoleon couple were in court yesterday, accompanied by a group of family members. They are currently out of jail on warning.

They face charges of drug dealing, drug possession and money laundering.

The charges relate to an incident on March 25 2015, when Napoleon allegedly sold 500 Mandrax tablets to a narcotics officer during a covert operation in his Fynbos house.

A second charge of drug dealing relates to another sting operation held a few weeks later on April 16, when Napoleon allegedly sold 1019 Mandrax tablets to another narcotics officer.

A third count of drug possession relates to 3181 Mandrax tablets that were allegedly discovered inside Napoleon’s house during a police raid on July 8 the same year.

Ingrid’s charge relates to R1398390.80 found by police during the July 8 2015 raid scattered across the couch in the couple’s home. The state claims that the money was the proceeds of drug dealing. Ingrid claimed in her defence that the money was the proceeds of chicken sales. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za