Australian DJ Jake Mastroianni will spend the rest of his life in Bangkok’s notorious Klong Prem prison, after he was sentenced on drug charges.
Fairfax Media reports that 26 year-old Mastroianni was caught with 61 ecstasy pill in his possession in the Thai city of Pattaya, and will serve two life sentences after he lost his appeal to have the sentence reduced.
Mastroianni, who DJs under the name Badmouth, was arrested in Pattaya in August 2014, and appeared in shackles in a Bangkok court on Tuesday. He had worked as a DJ at Thailand’s full moon party in 2014 on Koh Phangan, and based on his Facebook page had been a regular at Sydney clubs in 2013 before he moved to Thailand.
He’ll be held in Klong Prem jail, where prisoners share cells in notoriously harsh conditions. Each cell has a small hole in the floor for human waste and inmates sleep on the floor.
Nathan Feeney, a legal consultant for Mastroianni, told The Guardian that his client was previously given bad legal advice. His previous lawyers advised him to plead innocent, which lead to a longer sentence. “Everyone was hoping the sentence would be reduced further,” he said.
Mastroianni can apply to be transferred to an Australian prison in six years time. A spokesperson for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was providing consular assistance to an Australian national imprisoned in Thailand, but could not name him for legal purposes.
