A waiter who was charged last month related to death Liam Payne arrested in Argentina for allegedly selling the late singer cocaine.
Braian Nahuel Paiz was arrested on Friday, January 3 at his home outside Buenos Aires, four days after he was charged in Payne's death by Argentina's National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor's Office, his lawyer Fernando Madeo Facente confirms to PEOPLE. He faces between four and 15 years in prison.
He and Facente have maintained Paiz's innocence, with Paiz telling local news Telefe news in November, although he and Payne took drugs together, he never gave the drugs, and he never took money from the star.
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Liam Payne attends the British Vogue And Tiffany & Co 2023 Fashion and Film Party at Annabel's on February 19, 2023 in London, England.
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Payne he died on October 16 at the age of 31 after falling from the third floor of his hotel room balcony at the CasaSur hotel.
Facente, who did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment, declared Paiz “innocent” during a Dec. 20 appearance on the Argentinian show Mariana's Diary.
“He's been taking (drugs) for a while. He says it openly,” Facente said. “(Paiz and Payne) talk about a lot of topics. Of course… he's a lifelong fan of One Direction. He respected Liam and respected him. He took advantage of the opportunity, the happened in the restaurant where he worked. They exchanged messages, they had long and flowing conversations, they talked about many topics. At one point they talked about meeting in person, about getting good time, having fun, meeting up close and personal.”
Paiz was among five accused on December 30 by Argentina's National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor's Office. In a press release, officials announced murder charges against the CasaSur hotel manager and receptionist, as well as a friend of Payne's. The BBC they identified the accused as Gilda Martin, Esteban Grassi and Roger Nores, respectively.
The prosecutor's office also announced that a hotel employee, identified as EDP, and a waiter, identified as BNP, were charged with supplying drugs. The BBC identified the men as Ezequiel Pereyra and Paiz.
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Liam Payne performs on stage on the first day of Capital's Jingle Bell Ball with Seat at London's O2 Arena.
The release said Paiz is suspected of selling Payne cocaine twice on Oct. 14, two days before his death.
Nores was charged with manslaughter after allegedly “failing to fulfill his duties of care, aid and assistance” towards Payne after he “abandoned” him knowing he was suffering from “multiple slavery”. Martin is charged with manslaughter for allegedly failing to stop Payne from taking him to his hotel room just before his death.
Grassi, meanwhile, was charged with manslaughter for allegedly telling three men to “drag” Payne, who could not stand on his own, to his room, instead of keep safe, according to the statement.
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Authorities previously said in a news release that Payne “was not fully conscious or was suffering from a marked reduction or loss of consciousness at the time of the fall. “
In the moments before his death and in the period of at least his last 72 hours, Payne had symptoms “The use of multiple drugs of alcohol, cocaine and prescription antidepressant in his body,” said the news from authorities in Argentina.
The singer was laid to rest on November 20 at a funeral in England where his girlfriend Kate Cassidy and former One Direction bandmate Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan were present.
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