Jere Karalahti owed money to friend and drank heavily in May and June

Slovak team signs Karalahti

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Ice hockey player Jere Karalahti said on Thursday at his ongoing trial on drug charges that he became seriously indebted last summer, mainly as a result of heavy drinking and partying.
      Karalahti's testimony at the trial, in which he stands accused of involvement in trafficking in large amounts of amphetamines, is the first time that he has spoken openly about the events which led up to his arrest. During police interrogation, his answer to most of the questions that were put to him was "no comment".
      Prosecutor Erkki Huhtala speculated that Karalahti's refusal to answer might stem from his connections with the Bandidos motorcycle gang, and their code of silence with respect to the police. Karalahti said that he had no knowledge of such a rule.
     
In the view of the prosecutor, Karalahti provided the financing for the purchase of amphetamines in Estonia. One of the main defendants is Karalahti's childhood friend Nikke.
      Karalahti admits that he paid Nikke money, but he said that this was because he owed him money, and not because he wanted to finance a drug deal. Karalahti says that he did not know what his friend was using the money for.
      Karalahti had accrued a certain amount of debt, because the end of the hockey season last spring was followed by a heavy period of partying, even though the income from his team, HIFK, came to a stop in the spring. Nikke helped finance the binge by lending Karalahti between EUR 10,000 and 15,000.
      "I had played hard in the winter and celebrated hard in the summer", Karalahti explained. He said that he was steadily drunk from the beginning of May through Midsummer in late June, with the exception of occasional rest periods of a couple of days. After that preparations began for a new hockey season.
     
Nikke began to ask after the money in the summer. "I am an honest Finnish man. I pay my debts, although it can take some time sometimes", Karalahti said in court.
      Karalahti said that Nikke asked for the money in a positive spirit, although the transcript of a police wiretap tape gives the impression that Karalahti had been threatened. "When we listen to the tapes it will become clear that it was just a joke", Karalahti said.
      When Nikke pressed for the money, Karalahti succeeded in borrowing EUR 10,000 from NHL player Olli Jokinen. Karalahti admitted that he had told Jokinen that he needed the money to get out of his contract with HIFK.
      He said that he did not think that Jokinen would have wanted to help Karalahti pay off his drinking debt. Jokinen himself is not suspected of any criminal activities.
     
In the summer, Karalahti got a payment more than EUR 10,000 from the NHL for old game fees, but the money went almost completely into paying off his housing loan.
      This NHL cheque that Karalahti was to receive was used by Nikke as a kind of collateral for a loan of EUR 5,000 from another person who is also on trial for financing drug deals, the man in question says. The man who lent the money says that he was promised repayment, once Karalahti got the NHL money.
      Karalahti stands accused of arranging that loan as well. In court he testified that he did not know about promises made concerning his NHL cheque, and that he had not spoken to the man who lent the money.
     
Also testifying at the trial, HIFK director Pentti Matikainen said that Karalahti still owed his old team more than EUR 23,000.
      The sum comprises money borrowed by Karalahti, as well as bills that included luxuries such as rentals for executive boxes at rock concerts, as well as taxi rides.
      Karalahti said that when he celebrates, he is in the habit of generously buying drinks for others. Matikainen said that when he was celebrating, Karalahti would be "much more than generous".
     
In a separate development, it was announced on Friday that the Slovakian league side Slovan Bratislava had signed Karalahti to play on their roster.
      Slovan Bratislava is Slovakia's leading ice hockey team and won the national title last season.
      Karalahti said that he would first have to deal with unfinished business in Finland.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Prosecutor calls for jail term of at least six years for hockey player Jere Karalahti (30.1.2008)
  Hockey player Karalahti indicted in massive drugs case (16.1.2008)

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