The Supreme Court has corrected the Provincial Court of Madrid by acquitting Francisco Nicolás Gómez Iglesias, 30 years old and known as the Little Nicholas, of the crimes of usurpation of public functions and bribery for which he was convicted for posing as an emissary of King Felipe VI and the then vice president of the Government Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría during a trip to Ribadeo (Lugo). The Court had imposed a three-year prison sentence on him that has now been revoked by the high court, which has also acquitted the Local Police agent Jorge González, who had been convicted as a cooperator.
The trip to Ribadeo, in August 2014, was the episode that set off alarms about Little Nicolás. The Provincial Court considered it proven that the young man arranged a meal with the president of the Alsa transport company, Jorge Cosmen, presenting himself as a “liaison” between the Royal House and the vice-presidency of the Government. To give it the appearance of reality, Little Nicolás appeared in Ribadeo with a motorcade that had left from Madrid and in which Gómez Iglesias was traveling along with two local police officers, who also sat in the dock, accused of cooperating with him to simulate surveillance and escort work, although one of them was acquitted from the beginning.
The judges claimed to be unaware of the specific reason that led Gómez Iglesias to organize that meeting, but they considered that he did so “with the determined purpose of passing himself off as an important person” and conditioned by a “personality disorder” that he suffers from, as they believe. tested by the magistrates, who highlight his “narcissistic characteristics and immature traits.”
The Supreme Court assumes these facts, but considers that they do not fit into the two crimes for which he was convicted. Regarding the usurpation of functions, which was attributed to him for impersonating an envoy from La Moncloa and La Zarzuela, the court warns that, for there to be a crime, this behavior must be repeated. And in the case of Little Nicolás, the court notes, there was “a single impersonation action,” which consisted of organizing and attending the meal with the businessman. “It was a meal without political or economic content that does not fit into the concept of an official act and was said to hold a non-existent position,” the judges conclude, adding that since it is “a single act of boasting,” it cannot be considered crime.
The ruling, for which Judge Eduardo de Porres was the rapporteur, states that the criminally punishable conduct of usurpation “is not determined only because the recipient of the deception believes that the active subject of the crime meets the status of authority or official,” but rather that, for this crime to be considered proven, it must be required that the deception “be a consequence of the performance of acts typical of said condition.” In the case of Gómez Iglesias’ lunch with the owner of Alsa, “nothing related to the charge was discussed,” states the Criminal Court.
Regarding the bribery, for which the Court convicted Gómez Iglesias for paying the Local Police to escort him on the trip, the Supreme Court considers that payment to be accredited, but maintains that “organizing an escort service unrelated to any public function is not constituting a crime”, although it opens the door to administrative responsibilities arising. “The crime of bribery requires that the remuneration offered or given to the official be for acts related to the exercise of the position he or she performs and in this case both the person who gave the remuneration and the person who received it knew that no act was carried out related to the activity of the official,” points out the court, which recalls that during the trial it was shown that Little Nicolás and the police officer knew that what was going to be done was “a masquerade, a simulation.” Furthermore, the events occurred outside the town where the agent provides services and outside of his duty hours. “There was no commitment to the public function and, therefore, there was no impact on the legal right protected by the crime of bribery,” states the Supreme Court.
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This is the second final ruling on Gómez Iglesias, for whom the high court did confirm in December 2023 a sentence of one year and nine months in prison for falsifying his ID so that a friend could apply for the selectivity exam on his behalf. However, since it was a sentence of less than two years in prison, the judges exempted him from going to prison pending the Supreme Court’s ruling on the sentence for the trip to Ribadeo, which was appealed by the defense of El Pequeno Nicolás. . If the Criminal Chamber had now ratified this sentence, Gómez Iglesias would be doomed to go to prison, but, after the acquittal notified this Wednesday by the Supreme Court, the young man will be able to remain free, although he has other sentences pending appeal before the high court .
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