‘On the run’ hotel worker accused of selling Liam Payne drugs before One Direction star plunged to his death turns himself in

A hotel worker accused of selling Liam Payne drugs before the One Direction singer plunged to his death has turned himself in.

Ezequiel David Pereyra, 21, reportedly went on the run after the allegations were made but is now said to have negotiated his surrender to authorities through his lawyer.

Police went to his home on the outskirts of Buenos Aires on Friday with an arrest warrant so he could be remanded in custody, but were unable to locate him.

Pereyra’s unnamed lawyer informed officials yesterday that his client would hand himself in at a building in the Argentine capital, reports said.

A source told respected local newspaper La Nacion: ‘After Friday’s operation, a place where police believed he worked and other residential addresses were put under surveillance and under pressure he did the right thing with the help of his lawyer.’

Pereyra was suspended from his job at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel, where Liam plunged to his death from his third-floor balcony on October 16 after consuming too much drink and drugs.

It is now believed he was formally read his rights before being taken into custody so he could be hauled off to prison on the orders of Judge Laura Bruniard.

The judge had ordered his arrest when he failed to meet a 24-hour deadline to hand himself in for pre-trial detention after she charged him on December 27 with supplying drugs to the British singer.

A photo shows another alleged dealer, Braian Nahuel Paiz, with Liam Payne, reportedly during their first arranged meeting at a hotel. Braiain denies that he deals in drugs

A drone shot shows the balcony of the CasaSur Hotel where Payne fell to his death. Hotel staff are charged with manslaughter for failing to protect him before he fell from the balcony on October 16

Prosecutors confirmed late last month that the judge had charged Pereyra with “selling cocaine to Liam on October 15 at 3:25 a.m. and on October 16 between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m. so that he could consume it during his hotel stay.”

They also claimed that witness statements and CCTV analysis supported claims that Pereyra had received $100 from Liam to buy narcotics for him and that on another occasion the singer had sent a car to his house to pick up more drugs.

In November, TMZ published footage of Liam stepping out of an elevator at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel and talking to a man he identified as Pereyra shortly before the singer died, claiming the 31-year-old asked him for “seven grams of the same thing.” asked. medicine he had given him before.”

Like Liam’s other alleged dealer, Braian Nahuel Paiz, Pereyra faces a prison sentence of four to 15 years if convicted.

Paiz was arrested on Friday at his home in Berazategui, southeast of Quilmes, near Buenos Aires, so he could begin his pre-trial detention.

His lawyer Fernando Madeo had previously claimed it was ‘impossible’ that charges against his client would survive after Liam’s death at the hotel.

He also insisted the 24-year-old was the victim of a “witch hunt” fueled by authorities’ desire for perpetrators.

Waiter Paiz, who met Liam at a restaurant in Buenos Aires’ upscale Puerto Madero district where he had gone for dinner with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy and friends, has confessed to taking drugs with the singer at the hotel where he died, but refuted claims that he sold him all the narcotics.

Liam Payne in his latest Snapchat story. Investigators believe he fell unconscious while trying to climb over a balcony

The other three men charged, Liam’s close friend Roger Nores, hotel receptionist Esteban Grassi and the hotel’s head of security Gilda Martin, have all been charged with manslaughter but have been allowed to remain free while their prosecution continues.

They face between one and five years in prison if convicted, although they have been told they could be eligible for suspended prison sentences.

Laura Bruniard pointed the finger at hotel chiefs over their decision to move Liam from the lobby to his third floor room when he was unable to stand on his feet due to his previous drink and drug abuse, saying this was “a posed a legally unacceptable risk’. for his life’, which had ‘foreseeable’ consequences.

Argentine prosecutors called Liam’s boyfriend Roger Nores the “victim’s representative” in a lengthy statement they released last week, though they identified him only by his initials RLN

Judge Bruniard accused the businessman, who is currently banned from leaving Argentina due to the charges against him, in his indictment of “failing in his duty of care, aid and assistance” to the singer and “abandoning him to his fate, knowing that he that was possible’. He was unable to care for himself, aware that he had consumed alcohol and cocaine several times and fully aware of the state of intoxication, vulnerable and defenseless he was in.’

Roger Nores, an Argentinian businessman and friend of Liam, has been charged with negligent homicide. He had previously denied that Liam Payne’s death had been investigated

Police were reportedly on the hunt for the second man accused of selling Liam Payne drugs last night following the arrest of waiter Braian Paiz (pictured)

Mr. Nores told a recent TMZ documentary about the life and death of Liam Payne that he was “in good spirits and perfectly balanced” the day he died, as he refuted claims that the singer was behaving erratically and was drunk shortly before his fatal fall.

The businessman had previously protested his innocence and refuted claims that he was Liam’s ‘de facto’ manager.

He said in a statement shortly after it emerged he was under official investigation before being charged: ‘I never abandoned Liam, I went to his hotel three times that day and left 40 minutes before this happened.

“There were more than 15 people in the hotel lobby talking and joking with him when I left.

‘I could never have imagined something like this would happen.

“I gave my statement to the prosecutor as a witness on October 17 and I have not spoken to any police officer or prosecutor since then.

‘I wasn’t Liam’s manager. He was just my dear friend.”