Former Wigan defender Ronnie Stam has been accused of trafficking two tons of cocaine worth a total of 57 million euros in the Netherlands. If found guilty, the former Premier League player could face 13 years in prison.
The 40-year-old former footballer appeared in court in Breda on Tuesday alongside his three-year-older brother, Rudy Stam. The two are accused of trafficking cocaine from South America to their home country in 2020 and 2021.
Besides imprisonment, both could also be ordered to pay a fine of €1.75 million each.
Ronnie Stam’s brother, Rudy, faces a lighter sentence of six years behind bars, but could also be ordered to pay the nearly two-million-euro fine.
Ronnie Stam played three years on English pitches for Wigan, including 62 matches in the Premier League. He was part of that great “Latics” squad that defeated Manchester City in the 2013 FA Cup final.
The former footballer for Wigan, Twente, Standard Liège, and NAC Breda was arrested in June 2024 and has been awaiting his sentence ever since.
According to reports in the Netherlands, Stam has admitted to involvement in trafficking 20 kg of cocaine from Brazil to Germany in 2020, but denies the other charges.
The former full-back claims he accumulated his money during his football career.