Former Olympian gets 8.5 years for drug trafficking

27-year-old Dutch athlete Madiea G. was sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for drug trafficking by the court in Kleef, Germany on Monday. The sentence is one year longer than the 7.5 years the Public Prosecutor demanded. Her lawyer indicated that they would appeal, NOS reports.

G. was arrested just over the German border on the A3 near Elten on June 18th. During a routine traffic check, the German authorities found over 50 kilograms of ecstasy and crystal meth and 12 thousand euros in cash in her car. The drugs had a street value of around 1.5 million euros.

The athlete's lawyer, Norman Werner, told the court that G. did not know she was transporting hard drugs. "Otherwise she would never have done it." According to the lawyer, G. felt heavily pressured by "dark figures" with contacts in Dutch athletics and cycling to transport what she thought was 'doping' to a doctor n Germany. She picked up the goods at a bar in Amsterdam and they were packed to such an extent that she could not see that it was drugs, the lawyer said.

The court did not believe this story and convicted G. of drug trafficking.

G. is a former Dutch campion in the 100 and 400 meters. She was part of the Dutch relay team on 4x400 meters. She participated in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. This year she qualified for the World Cup, which was held in Doha in September. But she did not attend due to her arrest.