Two men have appeared in court in Co Donegal where they have pleaded guilty to a total of 20 charges arising out of a large-scale people trafficking investigation.
Georgijs Poniza (37) and Armen Pogosyan (32) appeared at Donegal Circuit Court, where both were due to stand trial on a number of charges.
A large number of witnesses including gardaí had been scheduled to give evidence in the trial, which was due to last up to six weeks before Judge Jonathan Dunphy.
The case centres around the trafficking of people who were brought into the country to work at a business in south Donegal.
RM Block
However, just before the trial was due to commence, both accused men changed their pleas to guilty on a number of the charges.
Both have addresses at Assaroe Falls, Ballyshannon, Co Donegal but have been detained in prison since they were arrested by gardaí two years ago.
The charges, to which the accused have pleaded guilty, include six different counts of people trafficking on various dates for each from December 2020 to October 2023.
The pair also each pleaded guilty to four other charges relating to money laundering and forgery.
The accused men were both arraigned separately on all charges and pleaded guilty before a jury of 12 people earlier today.
The first to plead was Pogosyan, who replied “guilty” after each charge. Pogosyan is an Armenian national with an Uzbek passport.
After lunch, Poniza’s legal counsel told the court he too wished to plead guilty to 10 charges. Poniza is a Latvian national.
As well as the people trafficking charges they are charged with making a false utility bill in the name of one of the trafficked people and using it to open an An Post account.
They are also charged with opening a credit card in the name of the same trafficked person with the intention of making a gain for themselves or another, or causing a loss to another.
The judge instructed that governor’s reports be compiled on each of the accused as well as probation and welfare reports.
Both men were remanded in custody and both cases were adjourned for mention to the next sitting of Donegal Circuit Court on December 9th.
