Liam Payne’s ‘drug dealer’ hotel waiter will walk FREE, his lawyer claims as he blasts ‘witch hunt’ over 1D star’s death
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LIAM Payne's alleged drug dealer will avoid any jail time and soon be a free man, claims the hotel waiter's lawyer. Fernando Madeo has insisted his client Braian Paiz, 24, has been the victim of a “witch hunt” as officials desperately try to find answers over the One Direction star's death.
![[Liam Payne, who died aged 31 in October 2024, pictured here in 2018]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image_e33d05.jpeg?strip=all&w=960)
Madeo claimed it is “impossible” that the charges put against his client will stick following the singer’s fatal balcony fall in Argentina in October. The lawyer said: “They want to look for culprits at any price, violating constitutional rights and guarantees and forming a ’truth’ which turns out to false as is the case here.
![[Braian Paiz pictured with Liam Payne before his death in Argentina]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image_6cf9ea.jpeg?strip=all&w=960)
"Accusing innocent people of crimes they haven’t committed.”. The waiter in Buenos Aires is accused of handing Liam cocaine on two separate occasions on October 14. Paiz previously admitted to taking drugs with the star but insisted he was not a dealer.
![[Former hotel waiter Paiz has been charged in connection with Liam Payne's death]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/1d7c0392-972d-4230-b114-4a85da17df09.jpg?strip=all&w=569)
Madeo also blasted recent stories which claimed Paiz has refused to testify in front of a judge as "fake". He insisted: “We presented a very long statement in which we addressed all the issues and the false accusations against Braian and we have explained everything from his point of view.”.
![[Rogelio Nores, left, has denied abandoning former One Direction star Liam before his death]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image_0bfbae.jpeg?strip=all&w=882)
Paiz was one of five men charged by a Buenos Aires judge last Friday following Liam’s death at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel on October 16. He and 21-year-old Ezequiel David Pereyra have both been charged with supplying Liam with drugs in exchange for money.
![[The 31-year-old One Direction star plunged 30ft to his death from his hotel balcony in Argentina]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/1aaab7c6-da37-4ac4-b2a5-941a5ca8e7f4.jpg?strip=all&w=499)
