Star of Netflix series Shiny Flakes has drug-dealing conviction quashed in Germany

Maximilian Schmidt shot to fame after the streaming giant told his story in a dramatic programme filmed partially behind bars.

Aged just 18 Schmidt was jailed for running a massive drugs empire from his childhood room selling crystal meth, LSD and cannabis on the darknet under the brand Shiny Flakes. After serving four and a half years behind bars Schmidt was released but not before Netflix signed him up to make the extraordinary show 'How To Sell Drugs Online (Fast)'.

Some of the project was filmed while Schmidt was serving his sentence in Leipzig, Germany, with other scenes recreated in a studio replica of his childhood bedroom. Prosecutors at his original trial described the operation, which turned over nearly 1 million euros before it was shut down, as "Amazon for drugs".

Schmidt, now 30, told the show how he modelled his drug business on other online shops. He admitted: "You paid upfront then you got your product. Instead of shoes, it was drugs."

But he was arrested and convicted again in 2023 over what prosecutors said was a new online drug operation called 'candylove.to'.

Judges, who sentenced him to four and a half years in jail, heard how he had been running the new scam from the prison kitchen while he was serving his original jail term. To Netflix's embarrassment some of his transactions, it emerged, had taken place around his filming schedule.

But now judges have quashed his 2023 conviction and ordered the case back to court after Schmidt's legal team appealed, reports local media.

Federal Court of Justice judges on November 5 gave him permission to appeal the conviction. A court spokesperson told local media: "In the extent of the annulment, the case is remitted to another criminal division of the district court."

Now Schmidt will remain free until the new case begins, although no date has been set for the retrial.

Story: NewsX