Terrorism accused Brian Roach was sentenced to an effective five years in prison by the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court in Johannesburg on Thursday.
He negotiated a plea and sentence agreement with the defence and prosecution, to which magistrate Renier Boschoff agreed.
Roach (64) pled guilty to an attempted extortion charge, for which he was sentenced to 12 years, seven of which were suspended.
He also pled guilty to money laundering and was sentenced to five years. For the illegal possession of ammunition he got another three years. The last two sentences would run concurrently with the first, and he would serve a total of five years. He was declared unfit to possess a firearm.
Boschoff said Roach was fortunate to have received this sentence. “Your age definitely played a role. In many ways you can count yourself fortunate.”
Prosecutor Chris MacAdam confirmed the plea, which did not include a terrorism charge.
The terrorism charge against Roach was dropped because political motive could not be established, prosecuting authority spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga told journalists outside the court
Threats
Roach allegedly demanded $4-million to not release foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom. He was accused of making similar threats against the United States. He was arrested in Hartbeespoort, in the North West, in February after a six-month-long investigation by South African, British and American authorities.
According to court papers, Roach made threats via email to secure compensation for the losses incurred by the farming community of Zimbabwe.
This after the US and UK brokered a settlement with Zimbabwe, coupled with their alleged failure to act against “the tyrant of hell”, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
However, Roach had no business links to Zimbabwe and had not farmed there, as was alleged in threatening emails to the UK and US. — Sapa