Sergio Peña in court – the prosecutor calls for prison • Then comes the verdict

MALMÖ/STOCKHOLM. Sergio Peña drove drunk and without a valid driver’s license in April.

The trial was held today.

The prosecutor then demanded prison terms.

Sergio Pena drove too fast, with 1.3 per thousand alcohol in the blood, after eating dinner and drinking wine with a friend at a restaurant in Malmö on the evening of April 18.

The 27-year-old Peruvian has continued to play in the Allsvenskan pending trial.

Today, the trial was held a couple of hours after Peña stepped off MFF’s training in the morning.

The midfielder entered the courtroom in Malmö district court wearing a black shirt, black pants and black sneakers together with his lawyer and an interpreter.

– It is clear that I made a mistake. A mistake I regret. It’s the first time it’s happened to me, he began, admitting serious drunken driving but not illegal driving.

“Didn’t think the right way”

During the prosecutor’s questioning, he gave his version of what happened that evening.

– I had dinner with a friend from Denmark. I drank four or five glasses of wine over five or six hours.

What was the idea of ​​taking the car, drinking wine and then getting back in the car, asked the prosecutor?

– I repeat that I did not feel drunk. But I also know it was a mistake as it is not allowed.

How did the idea go when you know it’s illegal?

– At the time I wasn’t thinking in the right way, I just had in my head that I could drive. It was the first time it happened.

Don’t know why he was stopped

What speed did you keep?

– Normal speed. 40 maybe.

Then why did the police stop you?

– I do not know. They didn’t say why they did it, Peña replied.

The prosecutor concluded by asking for a prison sentence for the MFF midfielder for aggravated drunken driving and illegal driving.

Defense lawyer Abraham Zeito argued that Peña should be acquitted of illegal driving, as he had been driving on his Peruvian driver’s license for several years in various EU countries where he was a professional and had no idea that he had to apply for a Swedish driver’s license after living here for as long as he has done, and that he be sentenced to probation and 50 hours of community service for drunk driving.

The defense also wants the court to take into account the disciplinary punishment, a deduction of one month’s salary, that MFF gave Peña and that the club will suspend him if he is sentenced to prison and give him further salary deductions.

– He is not a criminal, he does not belong in a Swedish prison, said Zeito.

At the end of the trial, Peña took the floor on his own recognizance and promised that it will never happen again and that he owns up to his mistake.

But he also told the court:

– I have been severely punished. My face has been displayed in the media in both Sweden and Peru.

The verdict will be announced on June 14.