TWO men accused of supplying Liam Payne with cocaine just hours before he fell to his death from a Buenos Aires hotel will face trial, Argentine prosecutors confirmed.
Waiter Braian Nahuel Paiz and ex-hotel worker Ezequiel David Pereyra have been behind bars since January, charged over the One Direction star’s death last October.
Two men accused of supplying cocaine to Liam Payne’s will stand trial[/caption]
The pair will be put on the stand and could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of drugs offences.
Prosecutors also revealed Liam had snorted and smoked cocaine in his room at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel “up to a few minutes before his death.”
In a lengthy statement, Argentina’s public prosecution service said: “The two defendants remanded in custody as part of the court investigation into the circumstances surrounding Liam James Payne’s death, will go on trial accused of the crime of selling drugs.
“They are Braian Nahuel Paiz, 25, who met Payne while working as a waiter in a restaurant in Puerto Madero, and Ezequiel David Pereyra, 24, who was an employee at the Hotel CasaSur Palermo where the former One Direction member died eight months ago after falling from the balcony of room 310, in a proven state of intoxication with cocaine, alcohol and psychotropic drugs.”
An autopsy confirmed Payne died from polytrauma and internal and external bleeding.
Toxicology results showed alcohol levels of 2.7 grams per litre and traces of cocaine, methylecgonine, benzoylecgonine, cocaethylene, and sertraline.
The statement added: “The forensic medical specialists who performed the autopsy indicated toxicology results showed the dead man consumed cocaine via his nose as well as inhaling it by smoking the drug.
“Consumption took place at least 72 hours prior to his death and up to a few minutes before his death.”
Paiz and Pereyra are the only suspects heading to trial.
Charges were dropped in February against three others, including Payne’s friend Rogelio Nores, hotel receptionist Esteban Grassi, and head of security Gilda Martin.
No trial date has been set, but proceedings are expected to begin soon.
Paiz, who previously denied selling drugs to Payne, insisted from jail he only shared cocaine with the singer.
The 25-year-old told outlet Infobae: “I don’t know what I’m doing here, I’m a good person.
“I shared drugs with Liam but I didn’t sell them.”
Describing himself as a drug user who started smoking marihuana as a youngster, he added: “All I want to do is start studying again and leave jail to work, like I was doing before.
“I regret now giving Liam my Instagram because it all spiralled from there.
“If I hadn’t I’d probably be working today, I’d be studying, I’d be doing videos because before meeting Liam I’d participated in the filming of a videoclip for YouTube for a singer and other videos for TV.
“I miss the freedom I had, I miss work, I miss my family, my mum and my sisters.”
