Masmeijer confirms in De Telegraaf that he was released unexpectedly. After his extradition, he was convicted in 2019 for, among other things, participation in a criminal organization and forgery. Masmeijer initially denied everything, but later admitted to having had a ‘limited’ role in the smuggling of hundreds of kilos of cocaine through the port of Antwerp. He was initially detained in Belgium, but was allowed to serve the last part of his sentence in Nieuwegein.
The former presenter initially thought he was being tricked when a prison employee told him he could go. “I still can’t believe it,” said the former presenter, who jokes that when he drove off with girlfriend Anita, he said to her: “Just give it a bit of gas, before they change their mind!”
The former NCRV member, who appeared frequently on television in the 1980s and 1990s, says that he is aware that grace is “special and rare”, but says that he has always believed that he is too was severely punished for what he did. “And that’s what more people thought, including now even the king apparently too,” says Masmeijer.