Headline: "From Globe-Trotting Soccer Freeloader to Convict: Bernio Jordan Enzo Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison"
In a dramatic turn of events, Bernio Jordan Enzo V., the infamous ‘spookvoetballer’ who had ping-ponged between soccer clubs in multiple countries, has been sentenced to nine years in prison. The 30-year-old was found guilty by the Breda district court for his role in two home invasions and one attempted robbery.
Bernio’s rise and fall were as swift as his jet-setting soccer career. In 2019, he managed to secure contracts with four professional clubs across four different nations, only to vanish without playing a single game. His modus operandi? Posing as a promising player, he’d lure clubs into signing him, then disappear with promises of future stardom.
His antics took him to Moldavia, South Africa, Chile, and Denmark, where he was ultimately incarcerated on fraud charges. But Bernio’s criminal exploits stretching beyond the soccer field had already begun.
In late 2020 and early 2021, Bernio was involved in two home invasions in Lieshout and Tilburg, along with an attempted robbery. Victims were tied up, robbed of bank cards, ID, and cash, while Bernio’s accomplices wielded axes, knives, and pistols.
Enzo was eventually arrested in Colombia in June 2021, following a trail of unpaid bills, and extradited to the Netherlands late last year. His trial concluded two weeks ago, with a judge rejecting his defense’s attempts to pin the blame on his co-conspirators.
The court determined that Bernio’s involvement in all three ‘serious offenses’ could be proven and harshly condemned his choice of targeting vulnerable victims in their own homes. While the prosecution had sought an 11-year sentence, the court ultimately handed down a 9-year prison term, with nearly 3.5 years of Enzo’s pre-trial detention counting towards his sentence.
Enzo has also been ordered to pay €2,000 in compensation to each of the two victims.
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