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The judicial panel of the Panevėžys Regional Court has issued a ruling in a criminal appeal case regarding fraud. The court dismissed the appeal of the convict, Linas Mickevičius, and upheld the lower court's decision, which sentenced the man to a firm one-year prison term.

According to the case files, L. Mickevičius was convicted for fraudulently acquiring another's property for his own benefit in November 2024. The convict contacted the victim and offered to sell him firewood that actually belonged to the State Forest Enterprise. During a meeting at a timber warehouse in the Gegužinė forest district, he showed the buyer more than 50 cubic meters of birch and deciduous timber.

When the buyer expressed doubts regarding the official state markings on the logs, the convict explained that a forest district foreman had supposedly wanted to buy the timber – which allegedly belonged to the convict – and had marked it accordingly, but they had since had a falling out, leading the convict to decide against selling it to the foreman. To make the ruse even more convincing, L. Mickevičius provided the buyer with forged transport documents and other paperwork. Believing the deception, the victim paid 8,000 euros for the timber.

In his appeal, the convict requested a lighter sentence and a stay of execution, arguing that he has three minor children and works as a carpenter in Norway. He claimed that imprisonment would prevent him from completing construction projects and compensating for the damages caused.

However, the judicial panel noted that L. Mickevičius committed the crime while having an active criminal record and had been convicted of property crimes nine times in the past; furthermore, he has been designated a repeat offender (recidivist).

"A person committing a criminal act assumes the risk of potential negative consequences not only for themselves but also for their family members," the judicial panel noted.

In the court's assessment, L. Mickevičius’s prior convictions demonstrate that the convict consciously ignored the duty to act lawfully, and his commercial activities abroad cannot be considered an exceptional circumstance justifying the avoidance of a real prison sentence.

By court order, the convict must reimburse the victim for 8,000 euros in material damages and cover 1,200 euros in legal representation costs.

Additionally, L. Mickevičius was ordered to pay the Police Department more than 2,430 euros in procedural costs for his extradition from Norway, where he had been hiding from the pre-trial investigation.

The ruling of the Panevėžys Regional Court takes effect from the day of its announcement.

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