Correction of aggregate sentence calculation upon dissolution of prior total penalty in narcotics trafficking case

The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) rejected the defendant’s appeal as unfounded, upholding the conviction from the Landgericht Fulda while correcting the dispositive section to impose an aggregate custodial sentence of three years and six months, which was calculated by dissolving the prior sentence from the Landgericht Kassel and incorporating the individual penalties into a new total. The dispute concerned the correct legal consequence of a judgment for dealing in narcotics in a significant quantity, specifically regarding the formation of a total sentence and the inclusion of prior convictions in a separate criminal matter. The decisive legal basis involved the rules on the formation of aggregate sentences (Gesamtstrafe) and the assessment of the gravity of narcotics offenses, where the court determined that while no other legal errors prejudicial to the defendant were found in the underlying reasoning, the sentencing order required correction to properly reflect the cumulative punishment.